


The Space Within

by hitorimaron



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: (I don't want to spoil their species for you in the tags), (because i can't decide what is a spoiler and what a relevant tag rn), (might be for each chapter again as always), Aliens and humans, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Cover Art, Creature Stiles, F/M, M/M, No Beta, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Outer Space, POV Derek, Slow Burn, Spaceships, creature derek, i do read through but yeah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-27 18:37:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 86,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15030821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hitorimaron/pseuds/hitorimaron
Summary: Derek used his forged identity to secure a spot at the Beacon - a flagship of the Intergalactic Alliance patrolling the edges of the known universe. That should be enough to escape his past, right?I only own the plot and the art, thank you very much. :)---------------------------UPDATED EVERY 3 WEEKS-----------------------------





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So... hello! If you are wondering how this happened, well... I got sick on a vacation so what better to do than to start writing a fun sci-fi AU. It surely did help me keep up the good mood, so hope it will do the same for you! As always, thank you for reading!
> 
> This is a bit more fast-paced than what you are used to from my previous works, but just as fun, I hope! :)
> 
> Cheerios~
> 
> __________

 

 

“Mr. Kasai,” called out a quiet gentle voice. Derek’s sleep-induced brain didn’t even register it. The hum of the ship in the background lulled him back to deep sleep… almost.

“Mr. Kasai,” the voice repeated more insistently and this time, it was loud enough for Derek to disturb his nap. He grunted, moving his face away from the source, wondering why this dude just didn’t answer yet so that _he_ could have his well-deserved rest. Not that he really could, not really, but he could always try, couldn’t he?

A hand touched his shoulder and he startled, eyelids flying open on their own accord. His shoulder twitched. _What?_ His eyes focused. The fly attendant was looking at him from above, a very friendly smile on her face ever so present - albeit it was slightly strained at that point.

She was definitely worried about the expression he was carrying. He must have looked as if he had been stabbed. At least four times. He really did not enjoy people touching him like that. Or in any other way really.

“Mr. Kasai,” she said, addressing him. Oh right, that was his name now. He blinked.

Her hand gestured at the medium-sized screen plastered above the air-tight entrance. “We have reached your destination.”

 

~o~

 

The Beacon was one of the Intergalactic Alliance ships that patrolled sector 721, more commonly known as the Milky Way. It wasn’t necessary one of the biggest ones. By far. But with the skill set ge had, he could count himself lucky that he managed to land the assignment. Forged document aside… one couldn’t really forge a skillset after all. Not even Peter was that good.

Still **,** he would have wished to serve on a bigger vessel, protected by an even bigger sort of anonymity, but a flagship ranking around fifty crew members could do the same just as well. Especially since it operated this far out of known space.

And it wasn’t like they knew who he was. It wasn’t like they could find out either, unless he would slip up by mistake. And that sort of mistake… he would never ever let that happen again.

Besides, the ship looked real nice. He could at least acknowledge that much. It was way nice than whatever other starcraft Derek ever set his foot on. Modern. Clean. Powerfull. Exactly a place where people would think twice before going in to search for him. And that was certainly something he was looking for in his future reside. He couldn’t have been more lucky.

The door on the opposite side of the wall slid open, revealing a female of an unknown species. Derer actually knew very little about the vast space population so... honestly, he just hoped he wasn’t the main character of this story because the lore would be so weak nobody would read it. That was the sad predicament of growing up so shielded, in hiding. It was also a really bad way to live. The lack of information rarely brought anything good.

“Mr. Kasai, the Sheriff will see you now,” she said, her voice shrill. Uncomfortably so.

Derek looked at her for a bit longer than was necessarily polite. Her hair was like fire, it almost glowed even in the bright-lit corridor. It maybe even was fire for all he knew. Enthralling. But she still looked sort of human.

“Mr. Kasai, if you would,” she said sternly, her face turning away from him. It made her hair swirl rather magically. “The Sheriff has other responsibilities as well.”

Derek nodded, getting up from the retractable bench. He didn’t turn around to watch it disappear in the wall so that the corridor was all clear again. It would make him too suspicious in the eyes of any normal crew member, if he ogled every piece of technology around. He could only allow that when nobody was around.

“Mr. Kasai,” greeted a strong voice to his right. The Captain of the Beacon, obviously human, was sitting at his desk, watching him from behind his holo screen.

“Captain Stilinski,” Derek greeted as the cabin door slid close behind him.

“Sheriff,” the man smiled, gesturing for Derek to sit down in front of the table. “Captain is a bit of an old-school term for the IA.”

Derek nodded, sitting down. He managed to keep the cringe at the slip-up out off his face at least. Good.

“I don’t get many assignees from the outside of this sector,” the Sheriff started, his finger tapping the screen in front of him. Derek’s files jumped out, covering a half of it. He did not squint to look if all was set. He just had to trust Peter that it was.

“Hagaar, was it?” A trap.  
“Malori,” Derek corrected promptly. While he might still be a slightly unresponsive to his new surname at the weak moments, the rest of his supposed “life” was drilled into his brain so many times, that it might as well be tattooed all over his body at that point.

“Oh, right,” Sheriff smiled apologetically. He reached over for a device made mostly out of glass-like material and put it on his face. Glasses, weren’t they? Did the human species have a lacking sense of sight?

“We travelled to Malori with my wife once. Can’t say I enjoyed the food much.”

Derek just stared silently.

“I hope that didn’t offend you. Hundred people hundred tastes, as my dad used to say.”

“Not at all.” As if words like that ever could offend anybody. There were far worse things for an individual to come across.

The Sheriff put his glasses down and leveled him with a studying stare. “For somebody who mastered that many intergalactic languages without an implant, you are suspiciously weak in the matter of basic conversation.”

“So I’ve been told,” Derek admitted, pursing his lips. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all. Not for your work position at least,” the Sheriff said, humming. “But this is not an AI master ship. Our values might differ from what you were used to on your previous vessel assignments.”

There were no previous vessel assignments in Derek’s work career, so he expected to be fine on that front. His silence obviously did not sound as reassuring to the Sheriff though.

“This is a quite small crew and I, as it’s _Captain_ , try to make sure it works like a clock. All the cogs need to be able to match together so this vessel runs seamlessly.”

Derek did not understand the reference, but the gist of it did not get lost on him. _You are an outsider_ , it told him, _and if you don’t fit in, you will be disposed of_.

“I understand,” he answered in full honesty.

~o~

 

“The cabin is nothing much,” said the  female, slapping a bracelet against the keypad near the door. It opened and revealed a fairly big room. Granted it didn’t have a window of any sorts. but Derek was used to way worse conditions. This was… clean and nice.

He glanced in, scanning for more beds, but there was just one. Interesting. He nodded trying to not look too excited about the prospect of having enough privacy to do whatever he wanted without prying eyes. He really did owe Peter an antique weapon or something similarly good.

“Your shift starts the next day cycle,” she continued explaining. He just nodded along. “Here is your key.” She threw the bracelet at him. “Do _not_ lose it. It contains all the info you might need. Literally. Starting with Beacon’s layout, right down to the menu in the Nourishment. I guess you already know your way around the tech so I would be wasting my time with a briefing.”

He didn’t, but he nodded anyways. It couldn’t be any harder than operating any other computer-based device, could it?

She stared at him impatiently. “Any questions?” He hair voice mirrored that impatience, whistling at a volume an average listener wouldn’t have noticed.

“Any questions?” she repeated.

“No, ma'am,” he said, tearing his eyes from her lips. He expected her to be insulted by the level of curiosity, but she seemed used to it judging by the smirk.

She snorted “Let’s not go there. We will be working together after all. And it’s Lydia.”

He nodded, wondering for the first time if boarding such a small vessel was actually a good idea - the first name basis after such a short time couldn’t foretell anything good... he would have to remember to be more vigilant.

 

~o~

 

He was up before the day cycle even began. Though in all honesty, he was up almost the whole night cycle. He ended up going through his bracelet - to learn how to get to the important parts of the ship, to go through the cards on his future coworkers, to look through the message board (he had to give up on that after being confused by the jargon one too many times), to check on this and that. It calmed him down to know all these things. It helped him slip into his role more comfortably. It grounded him.

Rolling to his side on the floor, he sighed, eying the bed for what could be the dozenth time. No matter how alluring it looked, it was just too soft. He wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to it.

Back at home, they were happy enough to have a thin blanket to cover their bodies with if there ever was one. They didn’t need anything more. But home was gone and there was no use in dwelling on it.

He sat up. There was really no hope in him to fall asleep again. Not when the treacherous thoughts of home slipped into his brain without him realizing. That’s what silence did to him sometimes. Inviting memories in.

Derek snapped his fingers. The lights came on. He did his ritual exercises under the blasing iridescent glow. Granted it wasn’t exactly a standard procedure and his eyes burned with unshed tears, but be it. He deserved a lot worse.

 

~o~

 

With a freshly washed body clad in a crisp uniform, he walked down a corridor. The day cycle did not start yet so all the lights were a bit more subdued than normally. Or so he assumed.

There were a few life forms, that passed him on the way, their eyes lingering curiously, but he did not stop to chat to them. He wasn’t sure he would do a very good job at it right then anyways.

The Root station was in the middle of the ship, how literal. He managed to get there without bringing up the layout even once. He smiled to himself proudly, turning his wrist to feel its insignificant weight and then brought it up to press against the pad next to the door.

It slid open revealing four working stations, two of which were occupied. An unidentified life form covered in some sort of a suit turned around to glance at the opened door and the eyes behind the mask lit up instantly.

“Oooh, new arrival is here!” It could be a female, if the high tone was anything to go by.

The human male right next to her looked up, watched him for a bit and then returned back to work.

“Oh don’t mind Isaac, he’s a bit shy around strangers,” she said, then shrugged and jumped from her seat striding right into his personal space.

“Come in, come in,” she said, grabbing his biceps to drag him in. Her hands were covered by surgical sort of gloves. It was all rather sterile - the mask covering her face, the helmet-like visor over her eyes, the artificial and loose material over her skin. Derek’s nose tingled.

She snorted, waving at her get-up. “Oh these? I would have fancied up a bit more if I knew you would have caught our shift by arriving this early,” she said laughing. “And before you ask or make your own weird assessments, no, this is not a BDSM thing. I am just no good with germs. I used to be reaaaal sick all the time, horrible. I am under treatment now, since my AI insurance covers it, but it’s still a long way to go, so… ya know, that’s why all the wrapping.”

Derek nodded, feeling slightly out of place. He glanced over at the other guy, but he didn’t even react, his eyes turned to the screen full off red rows. He tapped on one, typed in the command and it turned orange, filtering into a different section.

“Derek Kasai, was it?” the female asked. Derek looked back at her. She might have been human too. She probably was. Interesting. Such a humanoid crew wasn’t really the usual thing… maybe the Sheriff liked it that way, since he was a human himself.

She smiled. “I’m Erica.” Or at least Derek thought she was smiling under the mask. She could also be flashing her teeth his way, but that was not something humans usually did.

“May the stars never lead you astray,” he muttered, a bit embarrassed to use the phrase. He never did use it before, but it seemed to have been the standard with all the AI facilities.

“Wow, well, no need to be that official with us.” She laughed, slapping his biceps. He hoped he won’t have to work with her all that often - tactile life forms made him uncomfortable.

Luckily he was saved by the day cycle starting. The sounds of the daily reboot filled the room and the red lines on all the screens doubled.

Erica looked around and sighed. “Lots of work ahead of you and Boyd,” she noted. “It’s only so much one can solve on the night cycle what with most of the people sleeping.”

Derek found it a bit rude to call them all “people”, considering there were other species on this vessel as well, but he didn’t want to appear rude, so he decided not to react to it. It’s what a human would do and he looked like a human to any outsider right then anyways.

“Right, well we will be on our way then,” she said just as the door slid open and a dark-skinned human walked in, yawning.

“See ya at the end of your shift!”

With that last sentence over and out  Erica and her coworker Isaac, who didn't even look at Derek anymore, walked out of the Root station and Derek was left with the third human. _Another human_.

He stood there awkwardly at first, unsure what station would be his.

“There are no assigned stations really,” he heard from his right. Boyd reached into a slot in the wall for a cup of a steaming brown liquid, that might have been coffee. Derek really didn’t like the smell.

“I see,” he said still hesitating.

“Derek, right?”

“Yes.”

“Boyd,” he said, still standing next to the slot and sipping at his coffee leisurely, while the screens blinked with red lines. Now, Derek knew that was probably nothing critical for a vessel this big. He remembered Peter’s ship blinking with a lot more unsolved tasks, but it was still a bit concerning to be standing there and having a chill small talk when who-knows-what could be going on.

“Right.” Boyd said, walking over to Erica’s table to put down his cup. “This is how it works here: Each workstation is logged into one of the four main systems of the Beacon.”

Derek nodded. He never saw it being done like that, but a bigger ship obviously had other rules than small old vessels outside of the main IA line.

“A bit outside of the protocol, but it works.”

Derek didn’t know what that meant, but he nodded either way. It would seem his stay here will include a lot of automatic nodding.

“Right, well.” Boyd sat down and glanced at the screen. “I don’t think I will be able to move from this one for a few hours, so be my guest and choose whichever.” _How much was an hour again?_ He couldn't remember even though he did brush up on his human jargon yesterday. _Damn it, get it together, Hale._

Derek pursed his lips and looked at each of the three workstations to guess which one would be the least demanding. His uncertainty must have shown on his face somehow or probably was just hearable in his silence because Boyd looked back at him, his hand hovering over the red line on top of this screen.

“How familiar are you with the procedures?”

“Technically or theoretically?” Derek vagered.

“Right,” Boyd muttered and reached over to pull Isaac’s former seat closer to his own. “Let’s do a bit shadowing first then before I will let you sit on your own here.

 

~o~

 

He was a lot less ready to do this work that he had anticipated, which was well… slightly worrying, even though Boyd kept telling him that it was only natural, since the Beacon was not exactly a standard-working vessel. Not that Derek knew what a standard-working AI vessel was actually like other than by what he had learnt in the past quanton from the materials Peter managed to get for him. And who knows where those came from.

“This one needs medical procedure approval,” he read, scrolling down the line. “So I just approve?”

Boyd hummed, scanning his own screen before turning to check Derek’s.

“Go down.” He did so.

“Right, here it says the Sheriff needs to approve this, so send it over to Lydia. She will either plan it in for him or do so herself.”

Derek typed in a forwarding ID and sent it over.

“Why didn’t that go to Lydia automatically?”

“It usually would,” Boyd shrugged and returned back to his own work. His station, Derek learnt before, was connected to the command bridge and all the tasks tied to it, so it was much more complex than any of the other three workstations. Usually a team of two could manage the whole Root on Beacon, because the other two stations never had anything too urgent coming in. Which was lucky, because Derek was real slow in working through his own screen.

“There might be a virus in the message board,” Boys spoke up suddenly as if it only now came to the front of his brain. He was multitasking like some sort of siamese life form, si a delay in thoughts was nothing extraordinary.

Derek already forgot what they were talking about. _Ah right, the misplaced message. A possible virus._

“I will run a scan in the background and check for that then.” He nodded. Finally something he was familiar with.

Boyd tapped his screen, moving along the lines a few times and then picked up the conversation again. “Good.”

“If that’s okay, I would run it through all the external communication channels too. It will take longer, but most of the viruses latch in from there.”

Tapping, a sigh and then an answer. “Not needed, AI firewall wouldn’t let that through.”

“It does when it’s glued to the AI seal. It’s a loophole since those are not scanned. Granted nothing big gets through, but once it spreads,” Derek explained, typing in the algorithm for a whole-body scan. He did not approve it though, his fingers hovering above the button, because he suddenly noticed the lack of tapping next to him.

“Ehm or...,” he said and then looked to his left, doubfolded. Boyd was watching him with a calculative sort of look on his face.

“I’ve never heard of that,” he said, squinting at him.

“I was lucky enough to shadow under a very good Rootman, otherwise I wouldn’t have known that either,” Derek said, keeping his voice even. He turned back to his screen and hit the start button on the scan.

He did not look back at Boyd, just kept on working. The next red line wasn’t that hard to solve so he typed in the given procedure and moved to the next one.

It wasn’t long before the tapping next to him resumed. “Please write it into the Root log,” Boyd said then. “I want Erica and Isaac to have that or any other info that you might be able to forward.”

“Understood,” Derek said.

 

~o~

 

“You guys, food time!” Erica yelled as the door slid open. Her arms were full of packages of unknown origin, though judging by her words there wasn’t really much doubt that it was food. Derek - a master of deduction.

“I brought all kinds of them, since I didn’t know what Derek liked,“ she said, smiled (he thought at least), pulled the table from the wall and deposited all the packages on it.

“Boyd, come on.” Erica walked over to him to pull him over to the table. It was a rather impossible task, bur in the end she did succeed.

“You didn’t have to bother,” Boyd said, eyeing the huge pile of food.

“Yes, but if I didn’t, then you would have pulled poor Derek into your workaholic mess and what then?”

“I wasn’t really hungry yet,” Derek lied, trying to defuse the tense situation, but Erica just laughed at him and pushed the food into his direction. Derek had to wonder if she could hear his stomach growling or if she was playing it by the ear - a very poor choice of words in this case, he knew.

“I had to get up for my treatment anyways and Nourish is on the way,” she shrugged.

“I didn’t see any cabins _that_ way,” Derek noted, reaching over for a food package labeled as meat and potato salad. “Did I miss…?”

Boyd snorted, making Derek lose the end of his question. He frowned, put the food back down and activated his bracelet. Before he could pull up the layout of Beacon though, Erica jumped over and covered the holo with her gloved hand.

“Alright, well, it was not _on_ the way,” she confessed sheepishly. “I just didn’t want you two to starve.”

“Oh,” he said, moving his wrist away from her to turn off the bracelet. “I see.” Such a level of concern was a bit too much for him. He wasn’t exactly sure what to think of it. He didn’t know her well enough to… to what, thank her? Return the favor?

His eyes skimmed over all the food on the table and his lips thinned. She really did bring a lot. Was that much available on the ship for everybody? Did she have to pay for all of it?

“Do I...?” he asked, juggling his bracelet.

She frowned. “Hm?”

He reached over for the meat combo package and held it out in front of her. “How much was this? Can just transfer…”

“Ohhh, like thaaat,” she exclaimed, waving her hands around in a declining gesture. “That’s not how Beacon works. There are no rations here. You can just take whatever you want as long as you won’t go overboard. I wrote it down as a Root section order. We can keep the food in the fridge here and ya know… eat whenever.”

Boyd was watching him weirdly again, but Derek wouldn’t understand why? As far as he knew rations were a normal thing on the AI vessels. Maybe he missed something?

“Oh, my bad,” he said quickly. “I didn’t get to read on everything yet.”

Erica shrugged. “No biggie.” It seemed nonchalant, so he guessed there wasn’t that much suspicion left after the conversation. Still, he originally planned to remain silent and just observe for the most of his first few cycles and he was already failing at that - the crew was tied so tightly together that he wasn’t able to remain invisible. Alright, he will just have to try harder.

Erica suddenly got up again and waved at them, her eyes lingering on Boyd.

“Well, I gotta go now, so back to work, slaves! Don’t leave too much stuff for us, alright?”

And with that she was gone.

“At least she brought food this time,” Boyd muttered and dug in into his Tangerian fry-out.

 

~o~

 

The food was really good. It was surprisingly rich - enough to fill his stomach and make him _feel_ full too. He never really could achieve that back with Peter.

Boyd was obviously really hungry too, because he opted for one more package, just like Derek, which… lucky. Derek would have been embarrassed to eat more than him otherwise.

With the food safely stored in the fridge, the table cleared out of the way, their cups filled with clear water and all their other side-business done, they resumed their work.

Derek felt he was still a bit lost when it came to solving each red line. He had  to acknowledge the fact that he might be a bit lost for a while still and just go with it. Some processes were really over his head and once they checked that it wasn’t urgent enough, Boyd opted to leave them to Isaac, for which Derek felt a bit bad.

He wanted to earn his place here. They were giving him free food and a personal cabin and there was no way he would just use them without doing anything. (He was ignoring the fact he was actually using _them_ just by simply being here, since that was something he wasn’t able to pay back at that moment.)

“Would it be a problem, if I stayed for the night cycle too to shadow Isaac? Or?” He wondered uncertain. Isaac did not seem the kind who would appreciate being crowded and Derek understood that way too well.

“Just to learn as much as possible soon,” he added quickly, glancing over at Boyd. He waited the needed while until Boyd finished his current task.

“Your choice,” Boyd answered finally, starting up with another red line that was blinking on his screen.

Derek just nodded and turned back to his own screen. They worked in silence for the rest of the cycle. Well, silence that was disturbed only by Derek’s work-related questions.

 

~o~

 

“I thought I said work hard, not leave soooo much behind,” Erica whined as the night cycle took over the vessel. They came slightly earlier to check over the progress and have a small briefing as to which tasks were left behind intentionally and yeah, she was right, it was still a lot of work.

“I-” he started to say, feeling really bad about the small amount of work he was able to do.

“Tsss, just kidding, come on,” she said with a smile and then pushed at his shoulder playfully. Derek moved out of the way and shrugged.

“I bet you did well,” she said glancing over at Isaac’s screen who was already typing away at some programing error Derek wasn’t able to solve earlier that cycle.

She walked over to Boyd leaving Derek to stand awkwardly where he was and glanced down.

“I went for the ones that needed personale first, as always,” he summed up for her. “You can leave these twelve behind for the next cycle, I am waiting for an action approval from the AI main system.” He moved his fingers vertically through the mentioned lines and marked them orange, typing in a timestamp as to when they can turn back red. They moved automatically at the bottom of the list, which wasn’t even visible. The tasks just kept on accumulating, as always.

“Roger that, that’s quite a chunk of work, Boyd, great job.” She nodded, stretching her fingers. Isaac just muttered something that Derek shouldn’t have heard, but he of course did. It was a “good for you” in a rather dejected tone.

“Derek found a virus in the main communication channel,” Boyd said over Isaac’s tapping. “We won’t be getting those stray messages anymore. He rebooted the filtering system.”

Isaac looked up for the first time since he entered the root station. “Firewall loophole?” He caught up quickly and then turned around to look at Derek. “Where?”

“It’s the AI seal,” he said and shrugged as if it was nothing special. “I know about it from my previous shadowing though, so… nothing I would have found.” _Or used_ , his brain added silently.

“Hmmm,” Isaac hummed to himself and nodded, turning back to his screen. He brought up the scan’s log and went over the numbers. Erica leaned over as well.

“Quite a few of them were infected,” she said, pointing out the discrepancies. “Here and here, update batches from the AI mostly. Here too, supply documentation? That’s a bit weird.” _It’s really not that weird_ , Derek thought, but decided to hold his tongue.

“It is,” Isaac confirmed. “Those are all certified suppliers.” Derek kept silent at that one too. He really didn’t want to start that sort of conversation. He kept silent even when Erica looked over at him and raised her eyebrows as if she expected him to answer and explain.

“Is this common? Maybe we should inform the AI command center?” She looked over at Boyd. He was technically their boss, after all.

“It’s hardly anything major,” Boyd said shaking his head. “I will write a report and send it over but I doubt somebody will even look at it. Especially if it comes from the Beacon, you know how they get.”

“Mmm, true,” Erica mused, scrunching her eyebrows up and down. Her fingers twitched as if she wanted to scratch there, but obviously couldn’t so she just groaned instead.

“I did put a manual tracking scan into the firewall though, so it will scan the incoming seals now and move the unwanted virus tags into the vault,” Derek added helpfully, which made all of them nod.

“Right. Well that’s that. I am off to bed.” And with one last look at his screen, Boyd left the station.

“Off to sleep too?” Erica asked, filling in for Boyd at his workstation. She opened a bottle full of a brown sparkly liquid and put in a straw filtering device that could fit into the shielded opening on her mask. Just to be sure it was all safe, she sprayed it with some soft of disinfectant too.

“Actually, if it’s alright... to stay and shadow both of you…,” he started hesitantly. He was sure, he saw Isaac squirm uncomfortably at that, but Erica just waved for him to sit with her for now and started to go through the lines Boyd has left for her.

 

~o~

 

“Alright, so this one,” Erica said as she tapped on the next red line. “Boyd already tried to fix it from here two cycles ago, see. He thought it was a software bug only. It’s this log here.” She pointed at the advanced algorithm that Derek has never seen before and hummed.

“That didn’t work, so he issued a mechanical check, but the summoned droid did not find any technical issue,” she continued, pointing at the lower part. “It would seem the functions deteriorated even further though. See these levels here. The scan Boyd made in the last cycle shows a delayed responsivity and bunch of other minor things.”

Derek hummed to show he was listening and concentrated on trying to read the algorithm that Boyd put in upon first discovering the bug. It was quite impressive. No wonder he was their superior.

“So the next step here would be?” Erica turned to him. It was a curious thing, but she never actually told him the solution right away. She waited to see if he would figure it out. She was testing him. He expected as much though so the answer came easily.

“Manual check,” he guessed. There wasn’t really much else to do in these sort of cases anyways. He wasn’t used to having droids at hand to fix all the minor stuff anyways, so it would have been his first choice.

“Yep.” Erica smiled, turning back to the screen. “We only got one engineer slash mechanic here, so that’s why Boyd left the task unsolved for our cycle. He works mostly during the night cycle, yanno.”

Derek wondered what kind of a species that could be, but there were so many that preferred night that he wouldn’t be able to guess anyways. And asking would be too rude.

“Speaking of whiiich,” she said and chuckled manically, sliding her fingers over the screen. The red line duplicated onto a small holo screen on the side of the big one. She reached over to take it off and give it to Derek. “You will need to go there personally.”

“Are there still some messaging bugs or…?” Derek frowned not understanding. “Can’t we just…?”

“Oh, no no,” Erica answered shaking her head theatrically. “If we want it done, you have to go there personally. Trust me. That’s just how this guy works.”


	2. Chapter 2

 

He only needed to glance at the holo layout once or twice to make sure he was going the right way. The darkened lights, though a bit unnecessary, were a welcomed guideline. Just by following them he would end up in the most frequented places of the vessel and one of those was definitely the Technical station. 

He kept his eyes on the holo layout anyways, although he wasn’t really tracking his progress after the first two intersections - it was just to avoid any possible conversation with other members of the crew.

A few of them did indeed pass him, yawning sleepily or hurrying to some station or other, but seeing that he was preoccupied by his holo, they’ve left him to his own devices.

“Derek!” came a shout from behind him. Well, his avoidance strategy was obviously not as good as he thought it was.

He turned around to the sound of a shrill voice.

“A bit peculiar finding you here,” Lydia noted, running her fingers through her hair. “I am sure I assigned you to the day cycle.”

He could see her eyes travel down to the layout displayed over his bracelet. Maybe it was just common curiosity, but Derek was pretty sure she was checking out where he was headed at this time. 

“I thought it would be beneficial for my performance to extend my cycles before I could fulfill all my tasks at a reasonable level of independence,” he said. It sounded too stiff and too much like a trained excuse even to his own ears. Judging by the look Lydia was giving him, she definitely thought so too.

“Erica sent me,” he added awkwardly, waving the small holo screen with the red line still blinking at it’s top.

At that Lydia nodded. “Don’t extend your work too much, we need you at your best in your own cycle. There could be a red alert at any time.”

“Understood.”

With a click-clack of her shoes, she strided away from him, heading for the Medical station. Probably. It could have been any other station too for all he knew.

Derek watched her go, listening in to the gradually disappearing sound of her heels and then turned back to resume his walk to the Technical. He made sure to not stray with his eyes too much, to not look around too curiously.

The bracelet was definitely tracking his movement as it did with each crew member but that probably wasn’t enough. That could be misused way too easily. They definitely had his eyes on him in other ways too. Be it just because he was a newbie or because he was an outsider, they definitely did follow him more closely that anybody else on the ship.

The dot on his holo blinked once, announcing the arrival at the Technical station. He slapped his bracelet against the pad. The door remained closed through, a red light flashing over the screen. He frowned, putting his bracelet against it more sternly but the response did not change.

“You won’t be getting in that easily,” said a voice from down the hallway. “Only people with proper clearance can get in.”

Again with the “people”. He ignored it and turned to face the approaching man. There wasn’t much to describe him by, since he was a human too and Derek was starting to think there was some sort of silent agreement with the AI that this vessel would be mostly composed by a human crew - not that that was actually a bad thing,  _ but _ the faces were all so similar. Derek was starting to worry he won’t be able to distinguish between them at all. Albeit there were only 50 crew members for him to remember. Not all of which he had to remember, but still… he guessed he will have to remember each and every one in this sort of tight environment...

Derek looked pointedly at the door and then back at the human male with unruly hair. He did not wear his uniform, so Derek wasn’t able to place him, but he guessed it must be the main technician. He did look like...

“Don’t look at me, boy, I am not into that technical mumbo jumbo.” He laughed as he stopped right in front of Derek. He extended his hand in some sort of gesture and when Derek did not react, he pulled it back in without a twitch on his face.

“I am the Coach,” he said as if that would explain anything.

“I did not grow up in this sector,” Derek answered apologetically.

“Oh right, I run the Physical,” he said, eying him. “Not that you seem to need it.”

Derek didn’t exactly have an answer for that so he just kept silent. While it was true that he could build up muscles really easily, he didn’t think it was anything special per se. Not at this state anyways.

“Well anyhow, if you are looking for the technician, he is probably out and about somewhere. Wait or track,” the Coach said. He clapped him on the shoulder and jogged down the corridor Derek came from.  _ Perfect _ .

Next time when Erica asks him to go somewhere and leave the comfort of the Root station, he might fake tiredness and go to his cabin. All these encounters are only making him more and more nervous. Not to mention he was still not done with his original task.

Grumbling under his breath, he pulled out the layout again and tapped the human icon in the corner.  _ Of course it was a human icon, what else. _ Scrolling through the list of the crew members he tapped at the main technician and watched the scan run through the whole layout. The red dot appeared at the far end of it - that was just Derek’s luck it would seem.

At first he contemplated if it even made sense to go that far and waste his time. Surely he could come in later once the technician was back, but he didn’t know when would that be and he definitely did not want to return back to the Root without any results. It would be yet another thing he failed to solve. 

With the new resolve painting his features, he set the locator on and started to jog down the corridor.

 

~o~

 

There was nobody there. He was standing right on top of the red dot but the corridor was empty, void of any human or nonhuman presence. He tapped his holo and slid his fingers over it to make it three dimensional.

Maybe he went down the wrong level? No, the dot remained right there. He looked around again, wondering if the life form could be some sort of invisible species, but his senses did not confirm that. He would have at least heard something if nothing else. He didn't. The corridor remained eerily quiet.

Maybe there was some secret shaft in the walls that was shielded from the tracking device? He reached over to slide his fingers over the metal surrounding him, but didn’t find anything more than the bench activator.

Maybe it was a malfunction in the locator. Same as with the message board. Just another fluke. 

He frowned, walking down the corridor. There was a door to the Reactor station and he really did not want to go and try to open it just because his log would then appear on it and it would be too suspicious for somebody like him to try and gain access there.

But if the technician was in there, then maybe he could wait here? He looked around again, walked back and pressed the bench-activating button. The piece slid out of the wall and he sat down on it, leaning back.

He didn’t know how long he was waiting but eventually, there was a scuffle on the ceiling, a panel popped down and a young human jumped down onto the floor right in front of him. Derek watched his back stretch, his feet bounce a bit, and his head move from side to side. He looked perfectly human, but there was something odd about him. He listened in a bit more carefully and caught a hum unlike any other he had heard before. Or rather...

“Oh, uh, hi?” the humanoid said as he caught the sight of him in the corner of his eye. “Do I know you?” He smiled, patting his hands over his hips as if he was trying to get some excess dirt off. There wasn’t really any real dirt on this ship though, so the gesture was rather redundant.

“Derek Kasai, the new Root engineer,” Derek said, standing up. The bench got  pulled back into the wall automatically.

“I see,” the humanoid said, nodding to himself. He brought up his own bracelet and tapped to activate it. He then made an attempt of scrolling through a sea of red lines, but it was obviously too much for him so he just turned it off again and shrugged.

“Missed the memo, I guess.” He pointed to the small holo screen Derek was still holding. “That for me?”

“Yes.”

He offered the screen to the technician, who studied it for a second, moving his fingers along the lines and numbers.

“Yeah, I will have to check that out later,” he said giving the screen back to Derek.

“Not now?” Of course Derek wasn’t really willing to leave before the task was finished. He needed to feel like he had not failed at everything he has been assigned to this cycle.

“Mmmm,” he hummed and then brought up his own holo again, looking pointedly at all the flashing lines. “I am kinda busy, how about in a few cycles?”

Derek frowned, glancing down at  _ his _ own holo screen. “This waited for a few already,” he said, his tone uncertain. “The readings are getting worse with each passing cycle.”

The humanoid snorted, pointing onto his own screen. “Yes and this first one here is a possible reactor malfunction. And don’t get me started on this one - air filters. This one? Jammed water reservoir switch. This one here? Some unidentified error in the thrusters. I know I am a fast one, but seriously.”

Derek’s brows moved closer together in response to the blunt words, his lips thinning.

“You Root guys and your tiny tasks,” the technician nagged, shaking his head. “You do realize I must prioritize the top tasks coming from the main computer.” 

Derek could feel his frown deepening on its own accord.  _ Just don’t _ , he told himself, keeping the growl from his throat.  _ Don’t. _

“Come back when I have less work to do or better yet, tell the Sheriff to get  _ me _ a helper instead. I don’t know why he insists on taking in more Root guys when I am struggling to keep this freaking ship going on my own. But of course nobody would…”

“I can just send it to your feed and you can look at it whenever you want?” Derek tried.

“Oh no no, man, don’t pin your own tasks on me, alright? That’s not how I roll…if you try to pin it, I will send it back with a virus that will turn your eyeballs around.”

Derek pursed his lips. This life form was proving very hard to negotiate with. He should just leave and forget about it, but the holo screen was itching between his fingers. He didn’t want to return empty-handed.

“When can I come back with this, then?” Derek asked, willing his frustration to fade in the background. He wasn’t sure where he stepped over the line with this particular life form, but he needed to set it right before it would explode into his face.

There were plenty of tasks waiting to have technician over each cycle. He couldn’t afford failing to go through all of them just because some humanoid didn’t take liking in him. He couldn’t afford getting thrown off the Beacon, not after all the hassle he and Peter had to go through to get him there.

He forgot to listen in for the reply, but it was probably somewhere along the lines of “How about never?”, since the next thing he caught up to was: “Honestly, I am not even supposed to work a full cycle with the research grant and what not, but of course… leave all the reds to the silly human who is “playing around all day”.” The words sounded bitter.

“You are not though, are you?” Derek said before he could stop himself. “Human.”

“What...?” Oh, suddenly there was anger on the humanoids face, his stance becoming more threatening. “Who told you what? I want names. Now.”

“I don’t-”

“Lies. Those fucking gossipers. How long have you been here? And you think you already know everything about me just because somebody else tells you?” he spat, pointing at himself. “Yes, I ain’t fully human, I am a Hybrid. Boo-hoo. And yes, I am the Sheriff’s son, but you better think twice before you think that I take any of my work for granted and play around all day. So if you think you can just prance in here and impose your tasks-”

“It’s just the humming,” Derek interrupted, getting a bit lost in the tyrade of words. The Sheriff’s son? Now that it was mentioned, they did have a similar shade of amber-colored eyes. He wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.

“What?” 

“The humming,” Derek repeated unsure how else to explain it. He managed to include a wave of his hand encompassing the technician’s body. “It’s like... a lullaby. I didn’t hear humans do that before… or is that a normal thing?” It wasn’t. Otherwise he would make sure to generate it as well. “My bad then.”

They stared at each other for a while.

“No, it’s-,” the technician said, running his palm over the front of his chest. His shoulders slumped back down. “It is a  Hybrid thing, yeah.”

Derek sighed. “My apologies for mentioning it.” It had been rather rude. He wouldn’t have liked if somebody went ahead and dissected his physical responses in such a way.

“I didn’t think people could hear it.”

He was indeed “people” for all the other crew members and he would like to keep it that way, so he just said: “I barely can.” He could hear it very clearly though.

“I see….”

Silence.

Derek had to use that for his advantage.

“Look uh-”

“Stiles.”

“Look, Stiles, just to be clear. I didn’t mean to move my tasks onto you or any of that. I don’t think that’s how this works anyways.” He frowned. “Rooting is just about creating connections. I only make sure the problem,” he waved the holo screen, “gets to the best possible problem-solver,” he waved at Stiles.

Silence.

Derek signed. “So, we have this problem in the navigation system. It’s giving us wrong readings. We couldn’t fix it from the inside and the dispatched droid found nothing. When would you have time to look at it?”

Stiles hummed under his breath, the melody of it in synch with his internal humming. With a quick glance at his bracelet, he scrolled down the feed.

“I guess I can make a window for it here.” He pulled the two red lines planned in for the next night cycle and beckoned Derek closer. They put the small holo screen next to Stiles’ feed and then moved the red line there. With one last tap of the finger, Stiles tagged it blue, adding an alarmed reminder and then closed the feed.

“Look dude, sorry, I was just a bit on the edge before,” he explained sheepishly. 

“I understand.”

“Do you?”

“No, not really,” Derek confessed on the second thought. It’s not like he knew what exactly triggered Stiles to behave like an animal driven into a corner, but he didn’t exactly care. He didn’t  _ want _ to care. 

“Right,” Stiles said. “Well then, I will send my report to the Root when it’s all done. I guess I wasted enough of my scheduled time standing around. Reds are waiting.” And with that he strode down the corridor, opened the Reactor station and disappeared behind the reinforced door.

 

~o~

 

“So, how was it?” Erica pried right when the door slid open in front of him. It was as if she could hear him approaching, which she probably didn’t. She was most likely just watching his dot on the location scanner. That did seem more probable than her hearing anything much through that sterile suit of hers.

“He agreed to have a look at it next night cycle,” Derek said dejectedly. It was a small victory for him to at least have moved the task where it belonged if nothing else.

“Whoaa, honestly? He never really plans in the reds so fast if they are from us! Well not unless I bribe him with some curly fries or something similarly inedible,” she said, grinning.

“Surprised he even took it,” Isaac muttered under his breath, earning a light slap at the back of his head from Erica.

“You are just no good with people, Isaac,” she chastised, looking back at Derek. “Good job, rookie. I didn’t think you would pass this one.”

“Neither did I,” he admitted, returning the small holo screen back to her.

“I will send you next time too!”

“Please don’t.”

She just laughed at that, returning to her workstation. It would seem he had actually done something good at last. (The message virus fix-up did not count because that was not something he was proud of knowing.)

Still, the encounter with Stiles made him feel really drained. Or maybe he was just tired after taking on almost two work cycles. Or maybe it the whole new environment- the cycles were were a lot longer than what he was used to after all. Either way, it was time for him to retreat.

And so he bid them both farewell and walked slowly back to his cabin, where he fell into a restless sleep huddled on the floor with the soft blanket woven tightly around his body.

 

~o~

 

The alarm didn’t go off yet and he was already up doing his ritual exercises. It was a good thing he had a cabin of his own. He didn’t have to move out of the reach of any prying eyes to do what he needed to do quickly and methodically.

Since he still had some time left before the day cycle would begin, he decided to walk to the Nourishment station to grab some breakfast. 

Ignoring the bracelet that could have offered him help navigating, he set off to the left and walked down a few quite long corridors. There were already some “people” littered around, but none of them gave him a second glance, busy with their own routines and sleepiness.

He entered the rather small station with 5 large tables at its center and a few slots to the right. There was nobody at the nearest slot, so he walked over to it, put his bracelet against the pad and scrolled down the available menu. It was quite an impressive array and Derek wondered how come the AI had so much food available but none of it ever got to the supported colonies. Not that he was bitter about it or anything, but he definitely was.

He scowled at the package that fell down the slot. It contained dry meat of sorts - he didn’t exactly know how the animal it came from looked like, but that wasn’t important. As long as he got the needed protein from it.

It was rather loud around. Not really packed full, but it was still quite a lot for Derek’s taste. That was, until he turned around with his package and a bottle of clear water and the station suddenly went a lot more silent.

At first he thought it was something he did. But nobody was looking at him. They were all staring into their bowls whispering.

Then he thought the Sheriff maybe came to grab some food so the crew naturally got a bit subdued, but that wasn’t it either. It was a certain someone who was always accompanied by a silent soothing hum.

“Are you done with that slot?” Stiles asked from where he stood next to him. He was pointedly turned away from the assembly of tables.

Derek just nodded and stepped away, standing there awkwardly for a bit. He didn’t really know where to sit. Didn’t really think he actually wanted to sit in that “big” group of whispering people. Plus, he didn’t see anybody he already knew so it was far from compelling.

When he decided to eat his food at the Root station and started to move in the direction of the opened door, Stiles obviously finished his food selection and turned to go the same exact path. Their arms brushed and they both startled, stopped and stared at each other for a while before Stiles frowned and ran out of the station, leaving Derek quite confused.

“Dude, you should keep away from that Hybrid,” said a human who was sitting at the nearest table.

“Why?” Derek asked. He understood why  _ he _ was startled, but why would Stiles have such a negative response to him too, he had no idea.

“You might catch  _ it _ ,” he whispered in a volume that was far from a whisper. The female next to him nodded… he could actually see a few other members of the crew nodding along as they watched them talk.

“Catch what?”

But he didn’t get an answer anymore, because the Sheriff walked in with Lydia on his heels and the crew returned back to their food and their day-to-day conversations.

Derek did not linger to talk to anybody. Instead he walked out of the station with his food and drink still untouched, lost in his thoughts. It would seem the crew wasn’t woven as tightly together as the Sheriff might have thought. Good. That was good for him.

 

~o~

 

Work went a bit better this time, but only because Isaac managed to clear so much from the list of reds at his workstation that Derek was allowed to move to the lesser ones on the other two remaining stations.

He was sitting at the other side, updating the drivers and the firewall with the new patches that came over from IA a few cycles ago. It was a rather easy task, though he did get lost in the vast system at first. Thankfully Erica was still there at that point, so she showed him round. 

Isaac’s station beeped with an updated task status and he looked around to glance at the screen.

“I can’t now,” Boyd said belatedly, typing away to decipher some sort of important IA documentation that came in last cycle. He was the only one with the access to such files and since he wasn’t available sooner the task was issued the highest priority in their cycle. The Sheriff needed those files as soon as possible apparently.

Derek jumped from his seat and slid his finger over the red flashing line. It was Stiles’ task. He had apparently already finished the red and sent it back to them with a little side note at the end of his log: “Found some time sooner.”

“It says we need to order a new navigation chord,” he read uncertainty, his finger hovering over the AI ordering template. Should he fill it in or?

Boyd was tapping away for a while and then stopped to look over at Stiles’ report. One had to admire how seamless and calm he looked when working. Then again he used to work this station all alone so he must have been used to a lot of multitasking.

“Check the flight schedule here.” He pointed at the corner of the screen. “If there is a planned stop at a suitable place within twenty cycles, you can order it there and we can just send somebody to pick it up. The standard AI order would maybe take a week or two if not more.” ( _ How many cycles was a week? 25?) _

“Alright.” Derek nodded, scrolling through the schedule of the future stops. There were two of them, the first didn’t have any available database for spare parts, but the second listed an IA supplier that should be able to provide what they needed.

He sent out the message via the official channel and completed all the formularities - it was quite easy when the templates were already pre-filled. He would have to thank Isaac for getting all that ready for them.

And with that out of the way, he was done. He remained sitting there for a while longer though, the red line opened on the screen, the report right in front of him. He glanced back, seeing that the update was still running and then looked back at the note Stiles added to the report. Don’t get him wrong, he still thought Stiles was a little shithead for whatever the attitude yesterday was, but… maybe he was less of a shithead than he gave him credit for.

He added a short note to his own log and sent a sharing link back to Stiles, so that he wouldn’t be out of the loop. The note read: “Thanks.”

 

~o~

 

The lunch came and went without Erica stopping by this time, but Derek did not find that disconcerting in the least. He ate two packages again, packing up on meat, eggs and kartmanchs and returned to work on the third station.

If Boyd was tapping at his holo screen a bit more forcefully, he barely noticed.

It was only at the end of their cycle when the door slid open revealing only Isaac, that he realized that something must have been amiss.

“Erica?” Boyd asked immediately.

“Didn’t return from the treatment yet,” Isaac answered as he entered the Root station. “It’s one of those cycles again.”

“Right.” Boyd nodded and turned back to his screen. “I will stay behind to continue on this one then.”

Isaac pursed his lips, something unspoken passing his face, but the only thing that got through was a sigh. He walked to the slot to refill his cup and sat down at his usual place to check over the red lines.

Seeing that there was nothing immediately urgent, he turned to the third station, his eyes landing on Derek who was still sitting there.

“Anything there?” Isaac asked. Those were probably the first words he had actually spoken directly to Derek or weren’t they?

“Just three left and I can be done for the cycle. Nothing else came in yet.”

Isaac hummed under his breath and walked over to the fourth station. Before he could sit down though, Derek reached over and put his hand on the chair.

“Maybe you could jump in for Boyd and I can take care of this one? I think he needs the rest more than me. I sleep very little anyways. Space lag.”

Isaac’s eyebrows climbed higher, but he didn’t say anything in response. He only looked over at the first station.

“I am fine,” Boyd said after the highest red line was taken care of. At that point Derek thought to not push it anymore and returned back to his own screen to finish the remaining three reds. Maybe one of these days, he will even get to the orange ones.

“You should go,” Isaac said out of nowhere and Derek looked up, thinking it was meant for him, but the attention was not on him this time, it was on Boyd.

“It would help Erica if you visit. You know how she gets in that chamber.” A visible shudder passed through Isaac’s body.

“I don’t want to return to an overflowing-”

“I can take care of it. I did before. Will just leave the impossible ones to you.”

The tapping finally stopped and Boyd turned around on his chair to look at both of them. He seemed to be still torn between the two options, so Derek made sure to nod reassuringly when his eyes were on him. Isaac apparently had the same idea, because he nodded quite vigorously too.

Boyd sighed. “Alright,”he muttered getting up from his workstation. “Don’t do anything I wouldn't do.

“Gotcha,” Isaac confirmed.

After Boyd left they shared a very tentative smile together and returned to their silent work. This time, Derek did not need to break the silence by questions, since the fourth workstation had such minor tasks that he could solve them without any help. Good. He didn’t think we would be able to handle anything too hard at that moment anyways. 

 

~o~

 

It was the end of the night cycle and Derek’s eyes were so dry, he would feel his lids scratching off his eyes - it was excruciating. He wondered for a bit if he would maybe go blind if he kept up the work. Probably not. But at least he managed to clear off a huge portion of the reds on the fourth screen, so there was that.

A customary glance at the third screen told him that the main computer was feeding them more and more reds still. It was a never-ending circle. The second screen was not doing any better either, but at least Isaac seemed to have cleared enough from Boyd’s station so he wouldn’t get a heart attack once he returned.

Isaac signed and leaned against the back of his chair, rubbing at his eyes. He got up then, filling up his cup and stopped near the second screen, staring at it as it it personally offended him.

“Should I?” Derek spoke up, but he didn’t get an answer because Isaac just hummed contemplating the screen. Two more reds appeared on it, the list growing even longer. A grimace passed over Isaac’s face. “I guess…”

“You should both go get some rest,” Boyd said from the door and they both blinked up at him, blinded by the light of the day cycle. Has it really been that long?

Isaac nodded soundlessly, put his cup down and was out of the station before anybody could say anything. 

“You can go too Derek,” Boyd said, walking around to check the state of the screens. “Four and third are in perfect state, I won’t be touching those, so...”

“There are still some reds left though,” Derek admitted, pointing at the few lines at the top that were still blinking in crimson.

“There are always some reds,” Boyd said, tapping at Isaac’s screen to check on the status. “It’s a gargantuan task this station. You must learn to let go and rest.”

“Is that an order?”

“I’m afraid so. See you in two cycles.”

“But what about…?”

“Erica should be fine for her next cycle. They already released her.” There was something kind in his eyes as he said that, but Derek pretended to be blind to it. 

Instead he just nodded and left.

As reluctant as he was to abandon his post for the cycle, he actually welcomed it. It was not that he wasn’t used to working all the time. It was more of a stationery problem - sitting and staring at a screen over two cycles would leave a toll on anybody.

He trudged back to his cabin and lied down on the ever-so-soft bed. Being so tired had one advantage - he had no trouble falling asleep on it this time.

 

~o~

 

_ What? _

Derek’s eyes flew open as he regained consciousness. He glanced around the darkness and took a deep breath in. There was no smoke. He took another deep breath in just to be sure. He glanced around. There was no fire.

_ Then why? _

It slowly dawned on him it had been just a nightmare. It was just a nasty memory infesting his mind once he grew weak from sleep.

He exhaled a few times and sat up. There was no use in trying to go back to sleep anymore, he wouldn’t be able to lie still anyways. He needed to move.

Luckily (or not) he only managed to sleep through the whole day cycle and a small portion of the night cycle, so he still had enough time for whatever he would wish. And what he needed the most now was to get out of the cabin and move. Move away from the thoughts, away from his past, away from the ghost smoke that was trying to gauge him.

And so her ran. He ran up and down the corridors without a genuine destination in mind. He wished there was a forest around him that he could get lost in, the smell that would cover his own odor of sweat and fear, but such luxuries were not for him to have. They never would be.

His lungs burned as he pushed a bit harder. There wasn’t enough air, but still he ran. He could feel his muscles contracting, could feel them working. He wanted to let go. He wanted to be able to dive deep into his nature and succumb into it, but it was not meant to be. It was too dangerous.

And so he ran. And ran. And ran. A few times around the vessel. A few times in some small circles that brought him back onto the main corridor. He ran until he hit a dead end.

Funnily enough, it was exactly in front of the Reactor station.  _ Shit. _

He turned around and walked up the corridor to get back to the main one, hoping that nobody would catch him smell about this particular section again, but he knew his hopes were futile. Especially once he caught the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Stiles,” he said before the technician could even round the corner.

“Oh.” Stiled stopped in his tracks, his hand extended in front of him as he went through his list of reds. His eyes squinted in suspicion. “Another… oh, on a run?”

“Yes,” Derek admitted, running the back of his hand over his sweaty forehead, his breath coming out in wheezes.

“Got a ghost chasing you?”

Derek froze.  _ Did he know? Was he that obvious? _

“Uhh, is just,” Stiles stuttered waving his hand. “That’s some major workout, dude. Why would you do that to yourself?”

Derek slowly exhaled again, forcing his hand down. “I like to run.”

Stiles squinted. “Right.”

“I do.” Derek shrugged and then closed his mouth before he could say anything else - he would have liked to share how much he missed the forest back home all around him, but it was not allowed to say any of that. That forest no longer existed anyways. He was officially never there.

The corridor went weirdly silent. Derek wanted to move again. And it must have been really obvious, because Stiles took a step closer to him and blurted out: “Before you go… I uh, I am sorry about earlier.”

“So you’ve said already,” Derek noted. 

“No, I mean, not  _ earlier _ earlier, but  _ earlier _ .” The only thing one could offer to that confusing sentence was a frown. “At the… food…” Stiles waved his hands around in some weird pattern, pointing out a few directions as if he wasn’t sure which one was correct. Not anybody could be blessed with a good orientation sense, that much was true. “I probably caused you some trouble, but I promise it was not intentional. Not… this time, anyways.”

Derek just stared trying to wrap his head around the conversation. Maybe it was his brain being still muddy from the lack of oxygen or something, but...

“I mean the  _ incident,” _ Stiles hissed, “with the…” He waved his arm around.

Derek’s lips thinned. He really didn’t want to go that way. He didn’t want to reveal why he was so adverse to touching or any kind of invasion of his personal space. He didn’t want anybody to know anything about him.

“You can’t catch anything from me, I promise,” Stiles added, nodding seriously. There was a sort of nervousness around that declaration, the skittish eyes, the twitchy fingers.

“I see.”

“You don’t look so convinced.”

“I have a good immune system, so whatever it is...” Derek shrugged. His system would probably reject any kind of sickness different species could carry around. He was yet to discover some that might harm him in a more long-term way. 

Stiles snorted at that. And then he giggled. And then he started to laugh. “I have a feeling you got no idea what I’m talking about.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Because I don’t,”

Stiles snorted even more violently. “Alright, alright, jeezus.” He stopped to catch a breath. “You are so clueless it’s almost cute.”

Derek could feel his eyebrows sinking low on his forehead. “I will go before you explode.”

“Haha, don’t go, let me have a better look at that confused baby face,” Stiles called to his retreating back, clutching at his sides. “Come baaack.”

“Go back to work Stiles,” Derek yelled back and sped up before there could be any reply.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Already sketched out the picture for this chapter, so it will follow soon too :) It will be the last scene, fyi, because OF COURSE! EDIT: Pic posted!!! <3
> 
> __________

###   

 

The dry-cleaning pod was the worst experience one could actually have in a day-to-day life on a space vessel, but it was better than remaining all sweaty after a run, so Derek decided to suffer through it - look at him, being grumpy about normal daily things. What an achievement (sarcasm included).

The ritual almost felt like a blessing after such a horrendous experience. His muscles ached, but in a pleasant way, stretching, contracting. His stomach growled and… well that wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it was something that could be easily solved.

And so he headed for the Nourish. This time he didn’t even glance at the tables. He just walked to the nearest free slot, grabbed whatever he felt like chewing on on the way to the Root and walked out.

The human male that talked to him the previous cycle was watching him, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something, maybe to add something to the yesterday’s unfinished conversation, but Derek did not dawdle around this time. He hurried to work.

“Derek, hi!” Erica called out as they passed each other in the corridor. “Running a bit late I see.”

“Well...” He squinted up at the night-mode lights around them. “Not really?”

“Or maybe I am just running from work a bit earlier.” She giggled, shaking her head in a mocking disapproval.

Derek didn’t know how to answer that so he didn’t, standing there rather awkwardly. He could sense a pattern there. Awkward silence was starting to become his signature move when in a populated area.

“Don’t worry, I am doing fine,” she said, her hand flying up to pat him on the shoulder. He was wondering if it still bothered him since her hands were covered in such airtight gloves… but yes, it did. He chose not to jerk back this time though.

“I wasn’t going to ask,” he admitted unsure. Asking about the status of her body would be rather rude after all.

“Ahh, don’t say that.” Erica smiled, jumping away from him to head down the corridor. “I know you caaaaare.”

Derek watched her disappear behind the corner. The energy behind her step was fake to his eyes though and the slump of her shoulders as she left him obvious. _Was her treatment going well?_ Derek caught himself wondering, but banished such thoughts almost immediately. They didn’t belong into his head.

~o~

 

Derek was already stationed behind Isaac’s screen when Boyd strode in.

“It will be a busy cycle,” he said instead of a greeting. “We have reached Europa.” Derek wasn’t sure what planet that was or what the purpose of them hovering over it was, but he didn’t really care as long as it was out of the way of the main intergalactic path.

“It’s a level 3 moon orbiting Jupiter,” Boyd supplied helpfully. _Ah, that meant ressources._

“Water?” he guessed, reading a log in an urgent report. It would seem they needed to order some more parts for Stiles. He set on filling in the details.

“That too,” Boys confirmed sitting down at his workstation. “We wouldn’t have needed it that badly, but it would seem there was some malfunction in the filtering system that couldn’t be repaired, so the docking at Europe’s orbit might be extended over the customary time.”

“I am filling in the orders for the parts Stiles requested right now,” Derek informed him, copy-pasting the serial numbers of parts he never heard of. Then again he never resided aboard a self-sustainable vessel, so...

“Good, once you are done with that, head over to the docking area,” Boyd instructed, already tapping away at his screen. “Workstations two, three and four can be left running by themselves. We will catch up to those once we are out of orbit.”

“Understood.”

 

~o~

 

The Docking station was all the way at the bottom of the vessel. Derek already knew that because that is where he came in through as well. It was rather obvious though, since most vessels had it glued to the bottom of the ship - since that was the most practical way.

He walked past a few Dock workers hurring to and fro and headed for one of the side entrances. The reinforced door slid open to the corridor leading him past the control center. There was a pair of older men watching the droids on the screen fly around in preparation for the supplier to reach them.

It probably wasn’t save for Derek to linger around this place for too long - who knew what kind of life forms went through here. Some of them might recognize him or his species somehow, but he couldn’t have just said no. It would be far too suspicious.

“Derek,” Lydia greeted him as he entered the common area. It was the place where most of the pilots chilled before their ships were prepared or their goods were unloaded. Especially when it took longer than the required amount of time.

“I don’t think you have met doctor Alan Deaton before, have you?” she asked, pointing out the dark skinned man standing right next to her. The lack of hair on his head wasn’t as disturbing and the clickety-clacking inside of him. An android then. _Great. Just great._

“Greetings,” Deaton said, bowing his head with a small jerk-like motion. One of the older ones then.

“May the stars never lead you astray,” Derek greeted back, slightly unnerved by the lack of movement on the surface of the android’s body and the huge contrast of what was going on inside of him. One never knew what weapon was getting ready under that metal shell.

“Alan here is our expert on all things living,” Lydia explained.

“All things living is a rather incorrect description,” doctor Deaton noted, his face emotionless. “I am merely an scholar studying living organisms with below Ragnus’ level of intelligence, which feed on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organ and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli.” It sounded like something one could find in a very scientific report.

“So animals,” Derek noted.

“Yes, though that is rather an outdated term in the current scientific circles and a quite outrageous one at that if I might add, ” said Deaton in a voice that… well, sounded quite lifeless.

“You can educate Derek on the matter later,” Lydia interrupted helpfully. “It would seem our special cargo has finally arrived.”

The screen on the wall above them showed a small layout of the Docking area, divided by a few dotted lines to mark the designated places for different sizes and shapes of ships. Two of them were already marked red. Those would be the ones taken by the Beacon’s own shuttles. (The third one was probably either patrolling the space around them or went down to the surface - Derek didn’t really know. He did remember there were three of them from some sort of log he was going over previously though.). The five others were empty.

There was a red shape moving through the layout. A few scans went through the screen, making the shape blink a few times and then turn green as it stopped at it’s designated space. _Nothing dangerous aboard,_ Derek noted for himself. The light on the pad turned green and Lydia did not hesitate to press her bracelet against it.

The  door opened and she hurried hastily to the ship  with Deaton on her heels, who moved with carefully measured steps. It was a rather amusing sight.

“Hullo. Here for the malfunctioning droid?” Derek could hear from behind him. Stiles was standing just a bit further up the corridor, his head stuck in the control room of the Docking station. Weird, it was the day cycle. Wasn’t that a bit too soon for him to work?

There was a mix of annoyed voices - the men there were grumbling one over the other. Derek could not distinguish the words but it sounded rather unpleasant.

“Understood,” Stiles answered, his ears red and his lips thin. He closed the door and hurried up the corridor away from Derek.

“Derek, can you come over and check over the delivery?” Lydia was signing the delivery documents, checking over the proper seals, while maintaining a very friendly conversation with the human pilot. He hurried over, bringing up the order on his holo screen and then walked around to the back with one of the suppliers. Also human, if somebody would wanna know.

The door opened revealing large pods full of liquid. He couldn’t see much because the pods were mostly covered by a protective foam, but his actual tasks did not require that much of an inside look anyways, so he went ahead and counted if their number of pods was right, if their status was good and then beckoned to the control center to dispatch the droids for unloading and then checked each pot with a flashlight to see if it really contained whatever was on the order. Deaton stood right next to him to confirm.

Derek didn’t know the aquatic species inside. They didn’t resemble anything he ever saw before, but it didn’t seem like they were something that one would eat - too little flesh. Neither were they anything spectacular visually, so maybe they had a different purpose?

He didn’t ask, he just kept counting and checking each pod for a possible leakage and once he was done he nodded in Lydia’s direction. She smiled, shook the pilot’s hand and with a single click transferred the payment.

After that the droids grabbed the pods and followed Deaton out of the Docking area.

“Good job,” Lydia said as the door closed behind them and the pad turned red. The shuttle was leaving.

Derek just nodded acknowledging her words. It wasn’t like he deserved the praise. He didn’t really do much.

“The next shuttle will be here in an hour,” she said, straightening her skirt. “I will see you here then?” Though the sentence was a question she did not wait for him to answer, but rather hurried away, the holo screen already in front of her full of her own tasks.

Derek had probably just enough time to hurry and get some food, which he was in dire need off if the rumbling in his stomach was any indicator. At at least he hoped he had. The human time was still a bit confusing to him.

He set on walking up the corridor, ignoring the control center. He was almost out of the station, but before he could reach the exit he heard a voice coming out from one of the opened cabins.

“Now, d’Artagnan why would you do this to me?” Stiles whined talking to… Derek didn’t really know who, he didn’t hear anybody else in there. “I could have been sleeping right now.”

Now, Derek’s original plan was indeed to head to the Nourish real quick, but curiosity winned him over and he approached the door slowly to just peek inside. He wasn’t gonna go inside or start a conversation. He will just look what was going on. Maybe it had something to do with the shipment or the shuttle. He needed to know if it had. Of course.

Stiles groaned. “Come on, buddy, work with me.” There was a dull slap of a hand hitting metal and Derek frowned, looking into the cabin.

It was a droid yard, half-empty, half-full with droids of all sizes hanging in rows and rows all the way down from the ceiling. There could be at least a hundred of them inside at that moment if not more.

Stiles was sitting on the floor on the right between the rows of racks, his hand inside a droid marked as a team leader, whose screen was blinking in a harsh red.

“Perfect, just perfect,” Stiles grumbled, pulling his hand from the droid, looking offput. “Stupid piece of shit.”

“Is there something wrong with the team leader?” Derek asked curiously. His voice caused Stiles to  almost jump out of his shoes.

“Duuuude,” he wheezed, pressing his hand against his heart. “Who does that?”

“I imagine a lot of people ask you questions,” Derek answered, playing innocent. He shrugged, walking into the room. He was quite proud of himself for using “people” instead of “life forms”, it sounded very human.

“Seriously…” Stiles rolled his eyes, pouting down at the broken droid. “But to answer your question, yes, d’Artagnan here is freaking malfunctioning. And of course the customary scan did not reveal anything wrong with his system nor his assembly and it was so _really_ _important_ to get him fixed so they re-rooted me here right away.”

“Wasn’t me,” Derek said quickly.

“Yeah, it was probably Boyd, the cheeky bastard,” Stiles grunted, watching the droid’s screen as if it would reveal its problem automatically.

“It must have been important then.”

“Well yes, it is, the huge ice shipment is coming and this little fella here is the only one who has the right programing in him to take care of it. I guess we could use some other team leader, but _they_ want _this_ one, of course, _assholes_. Granted, he was there the last and only time Beacon had an ice shipment, experience makes there droids better, but still, it’s not like ice is any sort of fickle material,” Stiles muttered. “What is wrong with you, tiny bro?”

Derek knelt down to Stiles and leaned over to glance at the wires inside.

“Don’t tell me, you are _an expert in droid fixing_ and you think it would _only take a second_.” The sentence was delivered by a weird two-finger gesture he didn’t understand.

“Not really,” Derek admitted. “But I-” he stopped, his head suddenly whipping up.

There was a slight tremor passing through all the droids, so soft it would have been almost impossible to hear and yet Derek was sure it was not just his imagination.

“Wha…?”

“Shh,” he hissed, looking up at the droids hanging above them. He could see them tremble. The vibrations were getting stronger with each moment.

“Get down,” Derek commanded urgently, pushing at Stiles’ shoulder.

“Wha...wh-…?” Stiles started to say, but he didn’t finish finish the question, because he could probably hear it too then - the clacking of metal as the droids swung all around them.

Suddenly, the whole vessel made a sudden aborted movement. It was small, but Derek didn’t have a good feeling about it at all.

And then it came.

“Get down, now!” Derek yelled as the whole vessel jerked violently to the left.

Stiles, who wasn’t ready for it, lost the ground beneath him and was almost shot away into the nearest stand full of droids.

But Derek was fast. He grabbed him by the biceps, holding him in place, his other hand clenching the base of the rack on the other side.

The malfunctioning droid was flung away from them, down the lane, hitting some hanging droids in the process. Sparks flew in the air.

Before they could even blink, the ship jerked back to the right just as strongly and Derek hit the rack with his back, Stiles colliding into him with a heavy thud.

They sat there, breathing heavily, waiting for the next big quake, but it didn’t come. The droids stopped shaking, the metal’s vibrations slowly got weaker and weaker.

“What the fuck,” Derek whispered, holding onto Stiles just in case it was not over yet.

“Too long at the orbit, I’d vager,” Stiles answered shakily. “Europa must have entered the area with Jupiter’s strongest gravitational pull. It pulls even the ice on its surface apart deforming the planet itself, so of course Beacon...”

Derek didn’t tear his eyes off the droids, their movement the only indicator he had.

“Don’t worry, the thrusters only take a second to counter that, so it probably won’t happen again. Weird... I did fix the malfunctioning thruster. I don’t understand why there was an earthquake like that. A loop in the system would be impossible. Pfft, unless _somebody_ didn’t turn on the dampers before we entered the orbit and _forgot_ to do so upon hearing that we will remain longer than usual. Ugh, what a moron.”

“Right,” Derek said, not really listening to the rambling. He concentrated on the vibrations, making sure they weren’t picking up again. Judging by the eerie quietness, it wasn’t gonna be the case.

“So yeah, it should be fine not, you can-,” Stiles paused. “You can let go now.”

Derek noticed his hand still gripping his biceps, holding him close. Chest to back. He could feel the warmth coming out of his body and… well, _his theory that Stiles was a hybrid android was probably not correct_ , he mused.

He slowly let do, relaxing his muscles.

“Those are some killer reflexes,” Stiles acknowledged as he pushed himself off the ground. He patted down his uniform off the nonexistent dust and smiled down at Derek, who was still sitting pressed again the rack. “You,... ya know, kinda saved me.”

“I _definitely_ saved you,” Derek corrected, leaning slowly away from the metal parts of the rack. His back hurt. Not too badly but it did. Exactly where it connected with the rack before.

“You okay?” Stiles frowned, stepping around him to glance at his back.

Derek shrugged, shaking his head.”Yeah, it’s nothing.” But it wasn’t. Even the shrug hurt. Could he have broken something? No, this is not how broken bones felt. It was probably just a crack. He moved his shoulder blade. Yep, a cracked rib.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing.”

“It is. Just bruised.”

“Those will be some nasty bruises alright.” Stiles nodded, pursing his lips. “I’m sorr-”

“Don’t.” _There won’t be any bruises tomorrow_ , Derek wanted to say. _The cracked rib can be fixed. I am fine. I will be fine. I could have been already fine but I can’t do anything while you stare at me. You would know the truth then and I can’t have that._ Instead, he got up swiftly, faking through it. It wasn’t that hard. He had lived through hiding broken bones before. And this was only a minor crack.

Stiles watched him thoughtfully, but Derek ignored him, walking down the lane.

“We should try and fix the team leader,” he said, reaching down to grab the droid front under the rack where it rolled after the quake stopped. “Or?”

He looked back at Stiles. “Can we even fix it in time?” He brought up his bracelet and checked the time.

The latest log in their schedule noted that the shuttle will be slightly delayed due to the stronger gravitational pull, but it should be arriving soon anyways. Lydia was probably already on the way to the Docking area.

Stiles watched him for a bit longer, as he chewed on the inside of his lips and he was so uncharacteristically silent that Derek was starting to think he knew something. _Did he notice?_ No, he was careful not to let it show.

“I can fix it right away.” He nodded, glancing back at the door. There was nobody around it. At least not hat Derek could hear and he could hear a lot.

“But you said-”

“I know what I said, but you kinda saved me just now and I don’t wanna owe a Rooter,” he snapped, walking to the door to slide it close. “So I am gonna fix that droid using my “Hybridium” as I secretly call it and you are gonna leave with a functional droid.”

“How is that even-.” Derek frowned. “I don’t actually care if you fix that droid of not. Not that much anyways. Like you said, it’s just ice, it doesn’t have-”

“Shut up and give him to me,” Stiles ordered sternly as he grabbed the droid and put it on the ground. “A favor for a favor.”

“I beg to differ, this is not a favor of any kind to me,” Derek grumbled in confusion. “I would very much like to choos-”

“Oh hell no,” Stiles snapped, plopping down on the floor right in front of the droid. “I will fix it up real fast and we will be even.”

“I disagree.”

“I wasn’t asking anyways,” Stiles retorted and lifted his right hand. “Now quiet. It’s hard enough to do this after such a long night cycle. I don’t need you interrupting my concentration.”

Derek opened his mouth to argue some more, but a soft light caught his eyes. Now there were a lot of small lights around them - the door pad, the small bulbs on the droids, the lights over their heads, but this one… this one was coming out of Stiles’ palm.

Derek closed his mouth. The natural gentle hum coming off Stiles got more intense, filling the air between them and the light within his palm got so bright, Derek could actually see the bones in his hand.

Stiles opened his eyes suddenly. They glowed like molten metal and same did his hand. Derek had to blink a few times, it was that bright.

The glowing orbs, that were his pupils now, moved slowly to look down at the droid and with a deep exhale, he pushed his hand against the top of the machine. Derek could see light travelling down the veins of his right arm, like lava sliding down a hill, until it disappeared beneath his palm and into the droid.

Derek realized he was holding his breath. The air came rattling in. Stiles didn’t even blink, just stared down at the droid, his eyes moving minutedly to and fro as if he could actually see inside of the machine in front of him.

And then, the screen on the team leader rebooted and flashed green a few times, before listing in the usual general information. The malfunction was gone.

Stiles closed his eyes, his fingers digging into the droid’s metal and his palm started to pull the glow again as if he was sucking the lava back into his body. It travelled up his arm, in paths mirroring his veins and then disappeared into his chest.

And just like that, the droid was fixed.

Just like that.

Derek stared.

He couldn’t help but stare.

Stiles pulled his hand off the droid and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I hope that makes us even,” he muttered weakly.

“Yeah,” Derek whispered back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sooo, I was so energized from all your wonderful comments, I just had to post earlier! <3 Also, I am kinda undecided on the pic for this chapter, so if you have some suggestions, let me know! I would love to draw something you choose this time as a huge thank you for all the support. :)
> 
> EDIT: Pic done! Thank you for the lovely suggestion @different_isgood57
> 
> __________

 

 

“Oh good, I thought you got lost,” Lydia said as Derek hurried over to her. “I was about to send a medical team to find out if you didn’t injure yourself during the flight difficulties we experienced.”

“I’m fine.” _Though I did crack a rib_. A rib that was hurting quite a bit when he took a deep breath in, so he kept his breathing as shallow as possible, which in turn made him look like he was wheezing from a run to the docking area. Whatever.

She nodded, her presence almost perfect. “I was luckily at the command bridge at that time and the artificial gravity is more reliable on higher levels.” _Oh, so that’s why._

“I see.”

Derek glanced at the screen. The shuttle was just being guided to the selected parking spot, the scan in progress.

“Of course we wouldn’t have to go through such troubles if a certain someone fixed the thrusters in time.” Lydia scowled, ranking her fingers through her long hair. “But-”

“What…?” Derek frowned, tearing his eyes away from the screen.

“Well, I’m not sure if you met our _technician_ yet, but he is a rather air-headed human.” She sniffed, turning to walk through the door as soon as the bulb above them turned green. Derek walked close behind her.

“Stiles?” He frowned even more. Are they talking about the same life form? “But... he fixed it.”

Lydia snorted. “No offense as to how well you are informed about the processes on _our_ vessel, but I shall hope the pilot would know better. And if he says the thrusters were still malfunctioning and that’s why he couldn’t equalize the gravity then that would be true.”

And with that their conversation was closed. She walked over to the pilot, shook what was the equivalent of a human hand and beckoned Derek to go check up on the ice.

The team leader stood by, dispatched from the depositary as Derek walked through the back into the shuttle and checked over everything. And once that was all done, all he had to do was touch the droid and _he_ summoned a group of similar droids, organizing the onloading and delivery to the needed station.

It was rather good that Stiles managed to fix him.

Stiles.

Just thinking back on what he had witnessed, Derek felt a spike of curiousness hit him. (Although, maybe that was the cracked rib actually.) Still, he couldn’t allow himself to linger. Not then and not ever. He needed to be ready to run, to detach, to ignore, to keep his head down and not pull any unwanted attention. And any attention was unwanted, were it from a technician because of some prying questions or from a captain because of not doing his work properly.

And so he left Stiles in that cabin, saying he needed to catch up to Lydia. Which he did. There was no lie in that. But were it not the case, he would have left anyways. That was just the kind of life he was leading now. That was who we was now.

And the fact that the crew obviously had a vendetta going on against Stiles for some unknown illogical reason was none of his business. Nor the fact that Stiles had some sort of magical… no, magic wasn’t real, anyways. Besides, it was time to stop thinking about it.

With that in mind, he confirmed the order to Lydia, who sent the signed documents to the Root and then Derek hurried back to his post - to a quiet day full of staring at the screen and trying to conceal a cracked rib.

 

~o~

He was rather successful concealing his pain, which would have been no surprise to everybody who formerly knew him - his shift ended without a second glance from his fellow Rooters. The only thing he had to do now was to walk safely all the way to his cabin, triple lock it against foreign forces that might disturb him and perform the ritual to get rid of the troublesome cracked rib. Finally.

A simple plan, wasn’t it?

He was just walking down the corridor, not too far away from his cabin, when he heard the voices. Not that it mattered to him, no matter what the topic of the conversation was - his imperative was to get to his cabin as soon as possible and it didn’t matter than he caught Stiles’ voice down a separate corridor, all angry and… Derek honed in almost automatically. It was just common curiosity really, he wasn’t gonna stop or anything. The noise was just gonna go through one ear and out the other without...

“...in the report?” was the start of the conversation for Derek. “Are you fucking kidding me? You know full well it was not the thrusters!”

“If I ssay it wass the thrusterss, then it wass the thrusterss,” the other voice hissed. Oh, Derek didn’t even need to see this life form to know it was a Whittemorian. What surprised him more though was that there was one (or possibly more) serving on an official IA vessel. Weren’t they too dangerous and uncontrollable to keep around?

“That’s a load of bullshit and you know it,” Stiles argued.

“And what are you going to do about it? Run to your daddy?” the voice mocked accompanied by the sound of a light scuffle.

Derek squinted, stopping in his tracks as he listened in. He couldn’t really see them yet, the branch of the minor corridor which they were occupying still not within reach, but he could see some other human walking by. Their eyes glanced into the corridor, pulled in by movement and then once they recognized what was going on, they looked away quickly, walking away.

Derek watched that happen, doubfolded.

“We botttth know you won’t do a ttttthing,” the hisisng continued.

And okay, Derek was planning to just ignore them too and go to his own cabin (of course), but seeing that other human scurry away without a second glance... He could understand his own reasons for remaining passive in this kind of situation, but if it were his fellow species, he would never… if it was _Peter_.

He walked over and looked down the corridor. Stiles was standing there all agitated, the Whitemorian pushing him against the wall, it’s tail swishing around in a mocking display of power.

It must have heard him walk around but expected that he would just avert his eyes and repeat the same pattern as the passersby previously, but… but. _Were this Peter_ , he thought, _were this his kin_.

“Is something the matter?” he spoke up, nearing the pair of them. Stiles looked over almost immediately, surprised to see him there, though the anger in his face did not dissipate just yet. That was some ballsy attitude when being around a Whittemorian, Derek had to give him that.

“Notttthing that shhhould concccern you,” the Whittemorian hissed, not even looking at him.

“I’m afraid it does concern me,” Derek said stopping right next to them… in a good enough distance to be able to handle the tail were it necessary.

“The thrusters were on my list a few cycles ago. I personally checked over the report and the readings after it was fixed,” he continued evenly. “If there was a problem with them, then I am afraid I will have to pull it back up to check more thoroughly. Could you send all your previous readings to the Root as soon as possible?”

The Whittermorian let go of Stiles and his ugly face turned to Derek. He only hissed at him to start with, scanning his face for any sign of weakness. As if that sort of posturing would work with Derek.

“I apologize if I didn’t perform the task into the necessary detail,” he said calmly. “I will make sure to…”

“You are the new guy,” the Whitteemorian spit out, but Derek didn’t think it was a statement that needed to be confirmed really. So instead he went on: “When will you be able to send the readings?”

The Whittemorian’s tail swung around dangerously, but Derek kept his eyes on his face, making sure to watch him move only with his peripheral vision. It would be a sign of weakness to get distracted by a little movement.

“I can always ask the Root major to issue a command for the main computer to gather those for me, if you won’t have any time,” he added.

Now that probably wasn’t the right thing to say, because the Whittemorian hissed violently and moved closer, his tail tensing. “You better watchhh your back.”

And then... he just walked away? _Oh, okay._  Derek was actually surprised that this Whittemorian was _that_ calm. He was expecting there to be a fight, but who was he to complain.

“Dude, that was hella smooth,” Stiles whooped, punching the air in front of him. He walked in closer and smiled.

Derek only lifted his eyebrows. He honestly didn’t feel like talking to anybody anymore. He just wanted to go to his cabin and fix his goddamn rib. Was that so much to ask after such a long cycle?

Stiles grinned. “A smooth criminal.”

Derek remained silent still, but his expression definitely changed - he pulled his eyebrows together. The words hit way too close.

“It’s a song, ya know,” Stiles explained, which did not _explain_ much but at least he knew there was nothing to worry about after all. His cover was probably safe.

He couldn’t help saying: “You should have done the same. Not engage illogically. With such an aggressive life form at that.”

“Alright Spock.”

Derek was lost in all of these references. Why wouldn’t “people” just keep their cultural specifications out of their language?

“But Jacksssson is a jackass,” Stiles continued. “He hates my guts for some reason.”

Derek nodded. “A quite large sum of the crew does.” Of course he noticed that. Of course he did. But it wasn’t his business. It really wasn’t. Even if he did not understand what the actual problem was. (He just wished he didn’t have to repeat that to himself that often. It was annoying even for him.)

“They’re just scared,” Stiles shrugged. “And Jackson is the same, but Whittemorians react to fear a lot more violently than the usual human would.”

“I see.” He was not going to ask.

Stiles watched him for a bit, his lower lips moving a bit as if he was biting it from the inside. He squinted his eyes. “Aren’t you gonna ask why?”

“No,” Derek answered resolutely, folding his arms over his chest.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t care.” That much was true.

He signed, tired of the conversation dragging on unnecessarily. He really just wanted to go back to his cabin now.

“Send me the readings from the thruster if you find the chance. I want to go through them to issue a statement,” he said, turning away.

“Wait,” Stiles said, his hand jerking forward as if to grab him. But he stopped himself when Derek got all tense.

Stiles coughed. “You… you were serious about that?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, well… that helps.”

He stared.

Derek was about to leave. He really was this time, but the uncertainty in the heard voice made him pause. Instead of walking away he pointed at Stiles. “You could have just done the same. Not-”

“I know, yes, _but_ …”

“But what…?”

“I don’t want them to think I am misusing my dad’s status, yanno,” Stiles explained, moving his hand up to run his fingers over his short hair.

Derek took a deep breath in, trying to conceal his exasperation and his cracked rib stung, making him flinch. That wasn’t probably the most encouraging reaction he could have had at that moment, but… why the hell was this his responsibility anyways?

“This isn’t about any sort of blood connection between you and the Captain,” he grunted with annoyance. Humans… just for once… why couldn’t they pull their heads out of their own asses and focus on the bigger picture? “This is about _you_ being the head of the Technical station. And it is _your_ responsibility to take care of whatever your position on this vessel requires you to. If there is even the slightest chance of a malfunction you possibly could have overlooked, then you should do whatever needed… and it doesn’t matter where the doubt originates from, be it lies… mistrust… hatred? What you need to do furthermost, is _your job_. Because if you don’t,... if you just choose to stubbornly believe in your own faultlessness and run around consumed by illogical emotions... then this vessel and all it’s crew will have no chance at surviving.”

Having said that he left without a second glance, leaving Stiles stand there in silence with a slight frown on his face.

 

~o~

 

The ritual was harder to complete than it usually was. It was an excruciating efford, trying to fix his cracked rib in such an ossificated state of mind and body (blame it on all the sitting he did since he got here), but in the end he somehow managed to get it done. It did leave him tired and hungry though. And not only that. It left him wanting to burst out of this shell around him and run… run through the trees, through the forest… the sounds of his kin nearby filling him up with ease. But he remained there in his cabin.

He had told Stiles to not wallow in his own emotions and yet there he was, sitting on the floor all naked and sweaty, in a totally dark confined space, wallowing in his own misery, mourning and feeling guilty. This is what the ritual did to him when he remained in his real form for too long - this is what it did to him now.

It wasn’t good for his head to perform the ritual more than necessary, but walking around with a cracked rib was less preferable, so what other choice did he have? It always brought up bad memories to go through it. But he was usually able to suppress them. Not this time though.

They crawled down his throat and latched themselves onto all his organs. He could barely breathe… and when he did manage to take some of the air in, in stunk of smoke.

He sighed, curling up on the floor.

 _It was fine_ , Peter would have said. It was fine… it was fine as long as he only did it in his free time. As long as nobody else was affected by his stormy emotions. As long as he did not endanger anybody by it. As long as he would suppress it back under the lid when the time came. It was fine to be lost in sadness and hatred alike. It was fine. Just for now.

He wished Peter was there with him. He wished he could press up against his uncle’s warm body to leech out some of the comfort, but that wasn’t possible. He was alone. And it was all his fault.

Derek didn’t sleep at all that cycle.

 

~o~

 

Getting up was hard. The dimmed lights were pushing his eyelids back down into a sleepless fit almost right after he tried to lift them. His limbs felt heavy, wooden. The healing obviously took a toll on him. Maybe he should have waited… it was too late for such thoughts now.

He sighed and rolled on his back. Prodding at his rib did not bring out any pain. Small victories.

Pushing himself up, he took care of all his usual rituals like clearing, dressing, relieving - all except the most important one. He knew that if he were to immerse himself into the ritual of his people right now, it would drive him crazy. Skipping it wasn’t much better either, not for this body he had to occupy now, but he didn’t care.

Instead, he set off for the search of some nourishment, feeling his face pull itself tightly together from grumpiness. He could swear hearing his joints creaking with each aborted movement, but he forced himself to not listen in to double-check. Food. Food was important right now. He burned way too much by healing his rib.

First he will get food, then he will go busy himself with the ever-flashing reds of the Root station. Avoiding everything and everyone. Yep. Good plan.

“Thisss one isss taken,” a voice reached him. He frowned and looked around. Oh right, he was just heading to the slots to get some food, but something blocked his way. Or… someone in fact.

The Whittemorian he met a cycle ago was standing right in front of him, gesturing at the slot which he was heading to.

“In fact, all offf them are taken.” The Whittemorian grinned, the scales around his mouth deforming.

Derek blinked. Was there any food left back at the mini fridge? He really wasn’t in mood to engage with this life form right now.

“Did you happen to send me those readings by any chance?” he said loud enough for the humans scattered over the tables to hear. “On the thrusters. I seem to recall that-”

“There are no readingsssss,” the Whittemorian hissed, his tail weaving slowly around his back to get closer to Derek.

“No readingssss,” he repeated more sternly.

Derek nodded. “Right, well I guess I will see about that once I start my shift.” He tried to move right to get to the slots, but the tail swished through the air, blocking his way.

The Whittemorian bared his long sharp teeth. “I ssssaid there isss no food for you now.”

There was no way he could take him on in this state even if he did want… or was there? It’s true he was stronger than any average human and at least three times so agile, but with bones heaving him down like this, he would have been infected by the poison sooner that he would take him down.

He weighed his choices. And then shrugged and left without a second glance. Honestly, he was used to quite a bit of starving with a lot serious fractures, so who cared.

Giggles and whistling followed him out of the cabin, but he barely paid any attention to them, already thinking about work.

 

~o~

 

Before he knew it, it was the end of his shift. To his utter disappointment Erica did not show up halfways through with her arms full of food packages but other than that, he barely noticed the time moving.

At some point he saw the report on thrusters being updated with data from a manual check-up, which was rather unusual given that Stiles normally didn’t work through the day cycle. He opened it up, watching the readings load for a bit and then nodded to himself. According to them the thrusters were running up to 98%, which was rather remarkable.

To investigate further, he called up Boyd to allow him access into the main computer’s registry, clipping in the readings from the exact moment the thrusters had the supposed malfunction. The readings on their performance were optimal throughout the whole time but for the one little thing - the time when they were turned on to full power and the time when the gravitational pull occured did not match up with the pre-planned flight plan, which meant that Stiles was right. Duh.

He smiled to himself, tipped in the command for the pilot to log in his report on the matter, because it was still missing (obviously) and then issued a time stamp so that the whole thing would be send to the Captain. If somewhere in between that an updated copy of it all was sent over to Stiles for no reason whatsoever, well… that might have just been a typo on his side, nothing else.

 

~o~

 

“Honestly Derek, you look like a ghost,” Erica exclaimed as she walked into the Root station just before the night cycle began. “Don’t even think about staying for our shift.”

She threw a food package into his lap, which was full of something called “scrambled eggs” and went to sit down next to Boyd, talking about their progress.

“So the thruster drama continues,” Isaac said from beside him. He sipped at the water bottle in his right hand, his eyes glued to the screen.

Derek sighed, following his line of sight.

“Don’t sweat it, this sort of thing is normal with the pilots,” Isaac said, tapping the screen to open the report. The Whittemorian’s part was still blinking red.

“Oh my god, is that that the Jackson thing?” Erica asked. The question was followed by a loud snort. “Well, we are definitely leaving that for the day cycle to solve. No way I’m gonna ask for it.”

Isaac nodded seriously.

“We can send it over without his statement too,” Boyd muttered from his station, his eyes still the screen. He was finishing his last red. (“Last” as in, he will leave the rest as it was. There was no such thing as a last red.)

“True, it’s not like it’s gonna reach the Sheriff anyways,” Erisa said, shaking her head. The material of her suit was filling the air with gentle squeaking.

“Lydia will definitely remember to erase that one from the Sheriff’s task list, since her and Jackson are banging,” she whispered when Derek just stared without any sort of understanding.

“Erica,” Boyd chastised.

“Whaaat, it’s true.”

Isaac joined her. “It is.”

“Still, that’s no way to talk about a-”

“Pfshhhh,” Erica hushed. She spun around to pat Boyd’s shoulder and then gripped it to pull him off the chair. Her sing-song voice resonated around the cabin. “Off you go boss, our shift is starting.”

“You too, Derek,” she called when Derek did not get up or move. Well, he would lie if he said he wanted to stay longer. He was glad to be out before the lights were beginning to dim down all around the vessel.

 

~o~

 

He was sitting at the floor of his cabin, unmoving. He knew he ought to do something other than that, but he felt too tired. The stiff feeling in his body did not leave at all during the day cycle, it actually got worse.

He leaned his head onto the soft matrace of the bed nearby and stared at the wall. Before he could slip into another sleepless night cycle full of painful memories, there was a ping from his bracelet and the holo materialized with a message sign hovering in the air.

He read Erica’s note glued to it in the corner, telling they received a message for him and it was done encrypting and scanning so it’s been forwarded to him. Usually all the forwarding is done automatically, but it would seem Erica took particular interest in his correspondence so she took it upon herself to speed up the process.

He tapped the sign and it blinked red demanding him to enter a password first. He tipped in a long string of numbers - the exact coordinance to his long-lost home planet - and the sign unfolded, revealing a short message from his uncle.

 

_Dear nephew, I wish I could have gotten to writing you earlier, but I have been buried in my research of ectoplasmic life on Lianmar for quite a while. I write to inform you that I made quite a breakthrough in analyzing their reproductive cycle, which does not bring me closer to the actual matter, but it does fill me with enough professional satisfaction to continue on this foolish path. I hope your days are filled with the same professional routine as mine and that you are adjusting to the new vessel well._

_Peter_

 

Derek re-read the message a few times, searching for all the hidden clues and once he was satisfied with having understood what his uncle was trying to get across, he set on to write his response.

 

_Glad to hear your research had been going well. Though it’s not a path that I would find fulfilling enough, I do hope you manage to conclude it in good health - make sure to stay away from the poisonous expel, we both know how that went the last time. Adjusting to a new vessel is always rather challenging but your kind words reminded me of my goal becoming a lead section worker and I will do my best to achieve that goal so you and my parents can be proud of me. Hope to hear from you soon again._

_Derek_

 

Having written that, he checked it over a few times to make sure it sounded as normal as possible, without any obvious cyphers in case somebody did manage to crack past their password. It seemed innocent enough, didn’t it? A bit too official maybe but his resume did state that he was from a military family, so the structure would fit his heritage.

He encoded the file again and sent it back to Root for Erica to take care of in the express line.

Hearing from his uncle made him feel a bit better. A lot better actually. He exhaled a long breath, wondering when he might hear from him again. Would he be done with his revenge plot until then? Or would he still be out hunting?

Either way, just knowing there was somebody out there still, somebody the same as he was, somebody who was alive and breathing, poured back some life.

He stood up, stretching his muscles and closed his eyes… he let the thoughts of his uncle lull him into the ritual. They always did it together after their planet was destroyed, on their cramped tiny ship and it never felt like he was trapped in a metal can as it did here, because his uncle made it feel huge. He filled it with memories that weren’t painful. With kinship that wasn’t forced. With anything their species might need. And though it wasn’t perfect, it was well.

His muscles stretched and pulled, his bones cracked and rearranged. Back and forward, back and forward, a cycle. And when he was done, back in his human form, he opened his eyes again and watched as his fingers moved - bending them experimentally was easy enough, rolling his shoulders, moving his spine - everything was as it was supposed to be, healthy and renewed.

He decided to go test it out. He stepped out of his cabin. The dampered light shone the way to the training area as he moved along the corridors.

He did not bother turning the lights on when he reached his destination. It was better that way. He welcomed the darkness inside and set on taking turns on each of the machines - running until he was all sweaty, spinning until his muscles protested, lifting until he couldn’t even breathe properly anymore.

It felt great to be back at full power and he promised himself not to skip the ritual again for whatever reason - be it a nasty nightmare or some sort of depression - he promised his uncle the same before he left. The message from him had only proven that his uncle was worried he might slip again and stop taking care of himself. He promised he wouldn’t. And he won’t. Not again. The past was behind him. He couldn’t change it. He decided to live a long time ago and changing his mind now would be like...

It was then when the door slid open and the lights came on, the cabin filled with a hum of a gentle song.

“Oh, is anybody-” Stiles started, his eyes registering the movement on his right. “I… oh hi Derek.”

“Stiles,” he grunted. He didn’t stop pulling the weights up, didn’t stop to wave or anything else. If he would have stopped at that point, he wouldn’t be able to force himself to continue anymore. He was really tired, his muscles screaming with exhaustion, but he had to push it a bit more, had to make up for the lost time, otherwise his muscles would return back to their fossilized state.

“Why didn’t you put on the lights?” Stiles wondered. He walked a bit closer, his eyes scanning Derek lying on the bench, but Derek did not answer, nor did he acknowledge that he caught him staring from the corner of his eye.

After a bit it did start to get slightly annoying though.

“What did you want Stiles?” he asked, his voice breathless. It was getting harder and harder pulling the weights up.

“What makes you think I wanted something?” he heard from his left.

“You tracked me via holo,” he explained, his eyes jumping to the screen where he could see the Beacon’s layout if he strained his eyes well enough. He guessed normal humans would struggle seeing what’s on it since Stiles was standing quite far away, but Derek didn’t care how suspicious that was at that moment.

Stiles snorted. “Maybe I just came to repair something.

“Did you?”

“No.”

“Well then what do you want?” When the silence continued, Derek dropped the weights down and sat up to look at Stiles directly. He was standing there, looking very unsure.

Derek lifted his eyebrows in question. “Stiles.”

“I heard what happened with Jackson,” Stiles blurted out, his hands fidgeting at the sides of his body. “With the food? I shouldn’t have gotten you involved, I know. But don’t worry, I can make it all right again.”

Derek frowned, unsure where all this was leading. So instead of answering he opted for wiping the sweat off his forehead and concentrated on calming his breathing. Stiles would definitely get to the explanation even without prompting.

“We will just have to stage a fight.” _Alright, that took a weird turn._

Derek shook his head. “I don’t fight.”

“Not a real fight,” Stiles explained, shrugging. “A stage fight. You call me a few names, I call you some back, loud enough for the right people to hear or preferably see and then you’ll be off the hook. I can give you a list even.” He grinned.

Derek could feel his frown deepening and he wasn’t sure if that was because he didn’t fully understand what was going on or because he disapproved of the whole plan to… to what? Rescue Derek from Jackson? He didn’t need that. Not now when he was up to his usual strength.

“Don’t worry, it worked with Erica,” Stiles said, as if trying to reassure him. And when that didn’t earn him an answer either, he continued with: “See, she understood this whole deal since she… well it’s not exactly the same with her of course, but the suit and all, it didn’t do her any favors in her life either, so… yeah we got along. Too much. She went through some tough shit because I let her fight my fights. I was stupid to let her, I know that now, so... I won’t let the same happen to you too. You don’t deserve that.”

Derek sniffed, mulling it all over. The frown did not disappear from his face though no matter how much he thought about it.

“So the next cycle, we can meet at the-”

“Stiles,” Derek interrupted. “No.”

“This is gonna work, trust me,” Stiles urged. He took a step closer, nodding eagerly. “We just have to play it right. Then you won’t have problems getting your food anymore and-”

“I said no,” he repeated, a bit louder this time.

Stiles startled, then frowned. “Dude, being a martyr for the sake of _moi_ is not gonna bring you anywhere. I am trying to help you here.”

“I don’t need your help,” Derek answered honestly. He lifted his hand to slide his fingers through his hair. It was dripping with sweat.

“But-”

“I don’t,” he said, cutting himself off before he could growl in frustration.

“But I owe you for the thrusters,” Stiles said miserably. “I owe you, you stood up for me and you said all of that… stuff which was really _something_ … and Jackson won’t just stop.”

The muscles thrummed under Derek’s skin at that, wanting to stretch a bit more, wanting to be stretched up to the point of snapping. Maybe a Whittemorian would be a worthy enough opponent. _No, stop_. “I am not afraid of the Whittemorian. He has nothing that would-”

“Dude, have you seen him?” Stiles exclaimed, with a snort and a wave of his hand. “I know you got some beef but a human is no match for a Whittemorian. You might think he wouldn’t fight you since he is a IA official but he will, trust me. The only reason he did not dare to go up against me too violently is my dad… he doesn’t want to leave this vessel because Lydia would kill him if he did. But you are a whole different story. You think you are strong enough to stop him? Just because you can lift… what? How much is…,” He stopped staring at the weights, his eyes going down each component. He reached the lowest one and then went back up to double-check the result. His expression turned into disbelief and Derek blanched, turning his eyes to look as well. How much....? Shit… _shit shit shit_.

“That’s like… over 900 kilos,” Stiles whispered and then looked up at Derek. “And you were going at it as if it was-”

“There is a damper,” he said way too quickly. It was a lie of course, but he couldn’t think of anything else. _Shit, why was he not careful?_ He should have let it go the moment Stiles entered the cabin or even pretended he couldn’t lift it. It was too late now though.

Stiles ignored his comment, looking at him, suspiciousness leaking into his voice. “I thought you were human. Are you some sort of hybrid too…? Is this why you are helping me that much?” _Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up. This is none of your business._

“I am not helping _you_ , Stiles,” Derek said. He got up from the bench and folded his arms over his chest. “I am just doing my work. There is no kinship going on between us. I am here to do _my work_ and my work only. I suggest you do the same before I report you slacking off on your shift.”

He did not wait for Stiles to answer. He just walked past him and left the station without a second glance, promising not to let anybody else get that close to him and his secrets ever again.

 

~o~

 

The plan was all nice and logical, but when there is a Whittemorian blocking one’s way to nourishment, one does have to reconsider his options. He was still nerved from his previous conversation with Stiles when he reached the slots and Jackson did not help it by stepping in front of him again to scare him off.

“Thessse are all taken,” he whispered slyly, staring right up into his eyes. If it was to antagonize him more or to see the fear and bath in it, Derek didn’t know but he was not gonna give in anyways.

Derek felt his muscles tense in a welcoming way. He yearned for a fight after the unfinished exercise, but doing any sort of too much would probably give up his “human” cover. And he couldn’t do that. Not when that many of the crew were watching them.

“I’ve been to Mandoria once,” Derek said, letting his eyes slide down Jackson’s body, lingering at the sturdy muscles over his stomach.

“What did you just-?”

“You heard me.” He smirked, baring his teeth. They were in their regular human form, but he imagined it couldn’t have been any less terrifying. “I quite enjoyed the cuisine.”

Jackson hissed and his tail cut through the air faster than a plasma cannon. It aimed for the shoulder, which was the closest body part he could reach, but before it could split up Derek’s flesh, he sidestepped and grabbed the tail right beneath the poisonous goad and held it still.

There was silence in the cabin as everybody watched them. Jackson was too shocked to even try to pry his tail out of Derek’s hand, which was rather fortunate, because Derek wasn’t about to show off any of his strength.

“This ends here,” Derek warned so silently only the two of them could hear it. His words were accompanied by a tight squeeze of the muscle beneath his fingers. Then he let his thumb slide over the softness right under the goad where the trigger was. “You understand?”

Jackson hissed then nodded and when he pulled his tail away, Derek let it slip out of his hold making a big show out of it - he made it look as if he was _too weak_ l.

The crew watching them turned away as Jackson glared at them all. He then glared at Derek too for a good measure and stalked out of the cabin, emanating anger.

Derek couldn’t care less. He was glad to get some food before his shift began and overall be done this this prick.

 

~o~

 

“Derek, before you go for the night, the Sheriff wanted to talk to you,” Boyd said just as Erica got to Root to start her cycle. She was always a bit earlier in than was necessary. Said it was her only opportunity to socialize with ‘normal people’. “Derek is being called in?” She laughed. “Ohh, busted!” Or maybe she just didn’t want to miss on all the fun.

He frowned, jutting his jaw forward. Why would the Sheriff want to see him this soon after he joined the crew?

“What did you do Der-bear?” Erica asked, nudging his side. He ignored her for the sake of turning to his superior.

“Is there a problem with my performance?” he asked Boyd. There could have been. He was doing his best, true, and he was indeed getting more and more independent while solving the tasks at the 3rd and 4th station, but the 2nd still left him doubting his skills most of the time. Maybe Boyd decided to recommend him for reevaluation?

“I actually don’t know the exact reason behind his summons,” Boyd said, shrugging. “Nothing to do with Root business, I would say. Your performance has been more than satisfactory for now.”

Derek exhaled.

“I bet it’s just one of those catch-up talks,” Erica said. She plopped down on her chair and spinned around. “Ya know. To see how you’re holding up? It’s not like you were involved in something outside of Root, were you?”

She stopped, studying his expression. He tried not to look quilty. Not that he had anything to feel guilty for… other than his reason for being on this vessel. And his whole existence… and basically everything up until a few cycles ago. Could it be that the Sheriff found out? No way.

Erica smirked. “Or you know… maybe it’s the fact you got Jackson upset. He probably ran up to Lydia crying-”

“Erica.”

“What, everybody knows they’re banging, it’s not a secret,” she said, grinning. “Same with Jackson getting all the-”

“Erica, please,” Boyd chastised from his place, his eyes tearing from the screen to glare at her. She pouted in response (or at least Derek assumed she did from the way eyebrows moved under the mask).

“Just saying.” She shrugged.

“You better hurry along,” Boyd urged Derek, waving his hand in the direction of the opened door. Then he resumed his furious typing. Apparently there were quite a few things to be solved before they would reach Earth - their next stop.

“Understood,” Derek answered. Erica waved him off and then turned to look at the screen on front of her, checking in on the current status.

The door slid closed behind them and Derek hurried down the corridor, up to the front of the ship. Be barely ever went there on any official business, only during his run.

He didn’t need to pull out the layout though, he had a good enough memory to be able to retrace his steps from the first cycle he spent on the Beacon.

“He is already waiting for you,” Lydia said without any greeting. She didn’t even look from the screen in front of her. Her voice was weirdly cold - the shrill in it hearable. Not that Derek knew what was normal for her, but when he compared it to her friendly professionalism from before, it seemed a bit too clipped.

He wondered what of her behaviour had to do with the Whittemorian and what with the fact that she was already busy when he came, but he didn’t get to think too long about it, because the door slid open and revealed the Captain’s cabin.

It looked quite different from the last time he was there just a few cycles ago. For starters, there was a huge window looking out into the space. Derek could see a small red planet not too far away. It would seem there were some sort of settlements on its surface - something akin to huge domes… he did not remember there being a window the last time, but it might as well been closed off.

The Sheriff was standing right in front of it, staring out into space. He turned around when the door slid closed behind Derek.

“Derek,” he greeted, nodding. “How are you holding up?” He walked over to his table and sat down.

“I am not sure I can evaluate that myself, sir,” Derek answered cautiously and sat down at the opposite side of the table when the Sheriff beckoned him to do so. “I am sure you would know more.”

“That I indeed do, son,” the Sheriff confirmed. He tapped the screen on his left and glanced over at it. Sadly, Derek couldn’t see anything from his side because it was locked to a single-view. A special feature not many had access to on an IA vessel.

The Sheriff smiled and looked back up at him. “I would want to hear your own assessment first though. Being faced with self-reflection tells a lot about a person.” _A person_ , Derek refrained from scowling.

Was this some sort of a trap? Maybe he somehow did manage to figure out what Derek was and why he came to this vessel… maybe for all Peter had done, the IA would have a much better firewall than they had thought. Could it be?

Derek scanned the Sheriff’s eyes for any sort of suspicion but did not find any, which on itself did not mean anything if truth be told. He decided to remain vigilant..

“I realized that even after all his time, I still have a lot to learn about Rooting. Luckily Boyd is a very skilled and knowledgeable leader and I am glad to be under his service,” he said at last, keeping his words as neutral as possible.

“I heard you are doing a really good job for somebody who just got out of schooling,” the Sheriff confirmed. “Major Waag must have been a very good teacher.”

“Waloor, sir,” Derek corrected right away.

“Ah, right, my mistake,” the Sheriff nodded. Another test, wasn’t it? Derek did not expect anything else if truth be told.

He kept his eyes on the Sheriff and strained the rest of his senses to catch any possible life forms in the room in case there would be somebody concealed waiting for Sheriff’s order to apprehend him. He couldn’t sense anything, but still...

“I am glad you are enjoying Root so much,” the Sheriff said. “We do have one of the best Rooters here.” Derek nodded despite of not agreeing. It wasn’t that Erica, Isaac and Boyd weren’t good… they of course were, definitelly for this sector, but Derek guessed the IA had far better masterminds than these three could ever be on some of their huge flagships.

“How about the rest of the crew,” the Sheriff asked. “How are you getting along with them?”

“As professional as possible,” Derek said seriously, thinking back on what Erica told him before. If this really was about Jackson than he might as well mention it. The Sheriff would get to it in due time anyways. He opted for a neutral: “Which I must admit is a bit harder than what I am used to.”

“How so?”

“I’ve never worked on such a small vessel,” Derek stated, feigning honesty. “The whole environment is of course a lot more…” he mulled over a few words before he was able to find the right one, “...personal.”

“Indeed, we pride ourselves on that. Being a very tight group, similar to a family or a clan where everybody looks out for each other, helps and enhances each other. It makes one very precise watch... out of the whole crew. I bet not that many IA vessels have that,” the Sheriff said, his tone making him sound proud.

Derek nodded. “A very admirable achievement, if I might say so myself.” _Bullshit._

“And that is why I take every indiscretion toward anything but a good behaviour very seriously. Especially from an outsider.” _Ah, here we go._

The Sheriff leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the tabletop. He entwined his fingers, resting his chin on them. “So tell me about Jacks’son.”  His pronunciation was on spot if nothing else.

Derek had to be careful what he said now. If there was any sort of possibility that the Sheriff was already fed some information, he could in no way jeopardize his own position by standing up against the Beacon’s crew. He was still an outsider and his word would not weight enough.

“I don’t exactly have enough information about him to give you any sort of assessment,” Derek admitted to stall before he formulated the actual statement. “I briefly came into contact with him a few times because of the thruster issue.”

The Sheriff frowned. “Rooting business aside.” _Aside? That was the main problem at hand._ Not that Derek was gonna point that out though.

“What about the commotion at the Nourishment station recently?”

“A commotion, sir?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows. He hoped to draw more information about the other side of the story by asking but the Sheriff was not that forth giving: “Yes, what can you tell me about that?”

 _Shit, what now?_ He could just say everything as it was, but that would put him at risk. The Sheriff might rather believe his crew than him even if all the signs and evidence points in the other direction, especially when he puts his crew at the same level as one would a family - no matter what the reality of that situation is.

“I admit that there might have been a misunderstanding on my side,” he said slowly, studying the Sheriff for any sign of mistrust. He couldn’t tell.

“How so?”

“Well, if I might be that honest, I have only come across very hostile Whittemorians,” Derek continued, choosing his words very slowly. Or rather, choosing his calculative _lies_. “I am sorry to say I might have misinterpreted Jackson’s behaviour as such. I can assure you it will not happen again.”

The Sheriff studied him for a bit and Derek let him. He didn’t really think there was anything else he would want to add to that statement.

“Well, I must say I did not expect such level of racism and prejudice from an outsider,” the Sheriff admitted, tapping his screen a few times.

 _Fuck you,_ Derek thought. _You dare to accuse me of something so vile?_ He remained silent though.

“But given the circumstances, I am willing to let you off with an oral warning only,” he continued, his tone conveying his disappointment. “I hope we will not have to talk about this sort of thing ever again, son. Otherwise there will be more serious consequences.”

Derek nodded. “I understand, sir.”

 

~o~

As Derek lied on the floor, the thin blanket crumpled under his head, he kept thinking back on the Sheriff and his words earlier that cycle. He couldn’t afford making enemies on this vessel, not that it would be that fatal for him, but what other choice did he have than to keep up the act and stay within the lines?

Go back to live with Peter? If these past ten quantons could even be called living - wasn’t it more like a mixture of hiding, observing and plotting? He was sick of it. Sick of the hiding, sick of always looking around for danger, sick of being alive but not living at all - not that this was any better. He was still in hiding, mind you, but at least he didn’t have to fear being caught. Not yet at least.

No more conflicts, he decided. He was stupid to pity Stiles, stupid to feel any sort of compassion. So what if he was a rare kind of a Hybrid. So what if he… whatever, it had nothing to do with Derek. Derek was no Hybrid, Derek was no… _shit_. Anything else than simple professional relationship was out of question and that was the end of it. He will not interfere with anything other than his own business from now on.

 _Damnit_. Why was this vessel such a complicated social network? It wasn’t supposed to be. But there wasn’t really much he could do about it right then - only stare at the ceiling and wonder what he could have done better in the past few cycles.

Luckily, his thoughts were soon interrupted by urgent beeping. The holo jumped out of his bracelet, the Root logo flashing on the screen. He wasted no time - not that he had something to waste his time with, he was still in his uniform - and ran out of his cabin.

The lights in the corridors were still subdued and the whole ship was rather quiet so Derek figured that the alert wasn’t as urgent as it might have been, but he still didn’t slow down. The run was a welcome distraction.

“Whoaa, 35 seconds!” Erica exclaimed when he entered the Root station. “Ya kidding me?”

“I was nearby,” Derek lied, looking around the cabin. “What’s the emergency?”

“Well not an emergency per se…” she started saying, her words making Derer frown. This wasn’t some sort of a joke, was it?

“We will be docking above Earth in a few minutes,” Isaac spoke up from his place. “The protocol requires us all present in these cases.”

“Level B planet,” Erica added, nodding.

Derek turned to look up at their main screen that contained the feed from the command bridge. They barely ever had it on - if one wanted to see space, he could always just turn it on in his free time (not that anyone ever wanted), but still… he could see a planet right ahead of them, its rich blue color stark again the darkness of the surrounding space.

Earth  - the cradle of the human species - was a rather small planet, unsurprisingly - what was surprising though that it carried so many humans… how much was it again? He knew their population went up to a few trillions in the known space and that didn’t even have all hybrids accounted for.

 _Such a small planet,_ Derek’s stomach twisted at the sight of it, _how was it that they got to keep it alive when their got burned into ashes?_

He didn’t get to dwell on the poisonous thoughts for much longer though, because Boyd arrived and started to organize them into action.

“Before we start, I just wanna point out that I was out the last time,” Isaac said, his hand high in the air for some reason.

Boyd looked at him and sniffed. “Right, well…”

“And I absolutely can’t go because of my fragile health,” Erica added, one of her hands in the air too. Her second was pressing against her chest. Derek was getting slightly confused - was she feeling unwell?

“Right, well…,” Boyd’s eyes switched to him. “I have to remain on board, so... Derek, your IA vaccination should be up to date, correct?”

 _What vaccination_? “Yes, sir.”

“That settles that then,” Boys said nodding. “Hurry along to grab a flight. It would seem you will be the one from Root to go down to Earth this time.”


	5. Chapter 5

 

So Derek was going to Earth. Saying that he was excited about the prospect would be an utter understatement. The last time his feet touched the surface of a planet was when Peter had to bodily drag him off their own homestead. He remembered stumbling between the dead bodies, the blood and guts sizzling in the fires left behind by the explosions and he couldn’t help but feel a bit sickly walking down the corridor to the Docking.

_ Don’t think about that _ , he ordered himself sternly and, took a deep breath in. He slammed his bracelet against the pad.

“Wow, dude, what did it do to you?” Stiles asked from behind him making Derek jerk in surprise. He was obviously so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t hear him approach at all.  _ Shit. Stop it. It’s just a fucking planet. _

“Silent treatment it is, I see,” Stiles commented bitterly from behind him when he didn’t answer. They entered the Docking and walked down the highlighted line that was leading them to the shuttle. “No worries, nothing new for me.”

He then sped up, walking past Derek and waved to the pilot standing in front of the shuttle, who was doing some last check-ups via the bracelet. Surprise, surprise, it was a human too.

“Danny, my man,” Stiles greeted, grinning up at the… muscled human who kinda looked like a slightly darker and younger version of the Coach. Derek could definitely see some similar shapes on his face at least and that’s how his species mostly defined different individuals - by their shapes. Naturally.

“All set to go? I got a list of fun stuff to do down there,” Stiles continued, laughing.

“Just waiting for the Sheriff,” Danny answered, tapping away on his holo.

Stiles groaned. “Well, no fun stuff on the itinerary then. What a shame.”

“Myeah,” Danny muttered absentmindedly. He then looked up at Derek as if he only now noticed the second  _ person _ there and his eyebrows jumped up. Silence rose up between them with Stiles glancing to and fro with a maniacal grin on his lips.  _ What the hell was he smiling for? _

“Derek Kasai,” he decided to introduce himself.

Danny blinked. “Oh, yeah… right, the new guy. A pleasure.”

Silence again. Derek squinted. Stiles giggled and Derek shot him a glare, which just made his smile wider.

“So uh, you… uhh ever flown in a shuttle?” Danny asked out of nowhere pulling his attention back from Stiles.

“Yes?” Derek answered with uncertainty.  _ Was that some sort of a trick question? Wait _ . “As a passenger only that is,” he said adding the lie just in case.

Danny cringed for some reason, making Derek slightly uncomfortable and then sighed waving them to follow him inside. “Well, hm… if you would want, the co-pilot seat is mostly free on these kind of transfers so you could...” (Stiles was somehow enjoying this conversation way too much although he wasn’t even taking part in it.  _ What was going on? _ ) “...enjoy the ride right at the-”

“I am fine with the usual seat, thank you,” he said irritably, interrupting Danny before he could finish laying down the offer.  

“Yeah, Danny, concentrate on the actual flying for now,” Stiles sniggered, sitting down on the bench along the left side of the trunk.

Danny said nothing at first, redness creeping up his cheeks, but then he seemed to have caught a second breath because he rolled his eyes and said: “You better buckle up Stilinski, it will be a bumpy ride.”

“Oh boy,” Stiles mocked. “My bits are jiggling with excitement already.” 

Danny turned around to walk to the front of the ship and sit down behind his station. Derek actually wished he had taken him in on the invitation because listening to Stiles was slowly giving him a headache. Good thing he could just take his seat and close his eyes. He didn’t actually have to talk to anybody until the shuttle landed… though considering his luck that wouldn’t be the case. And it wasn’t.

 

~o~

 

“Right, boys, ready to depart?”  the Sheriff asked when he entered the shuttle. Lydia wasn’t with him this time, instead it was Deaton.

“Dying of excitement,” Stiles mumbled, but the Sheriff either didn’t hear or didn’t acknowledge because he silently walked to the front to pat Danny’s back and talk to him while the back door of the shuttle closed.

Deaton sat down at the far end of his bench and strapped himself in. After that, his head sagged and he entered hibernation without a word to them. Good for him. Derek wished he could do that too sometimes.

He could feel Stiles’ eyes on him, but instead of confronting him he just turned to watch the Sheriff sit down beside Danny. The shuttle shuddered at first, then the stabilizers kicked in and everything went smooth. What could be better than actual IA tech? Nothing… well nothing the official market could offer anyways.

Derek leaned back, folding his hands over his chest and closed his eyes, thinking back on the briefing Boyd gave him before he left - pick up the ordered goods, deliver the cargo from Europa and wait for the Sheriff to finish his official business. They would have to stay on the planet overnight - though if that was a short of a long time, he didn’t know. Earth wasn’t really something he ever took any particular interest in. 

Just as he was about to doze off, a light behind his closed lids brought him to the surface faster than an air balloon. He thought it was some sort of fire at first, but no, it was just Stiles.

Before he could say anything though, the Sheriff spoke up: “Not now.”

Stiles glared up at him. “You know I don’t like to fly without checking….”

“Stiles,” the Sheriff repeated, looking down at him as if one look could say everything that needed to be said. Derek wondered what the actual problem was with Stiles using his…  _ glowy things _ . He wondered and then he made himself stop wondering. It had nothing to do with his work.

“Stiles,” the Sheriff repeated.

“Dad.”

“Not  _ now _ .”

Stiles was looking at his father, some sort of defiance passing his features (oh, Derek knew a thing or two about this sort of parental defiance alright), but in the end he just called the light back into his body and looked away.

Derek wasn’t gonna pry.

“I apologize,” the Sheriff said to him. “I hope it didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

_ This again. _ He shook his head.

“You are welcome to sit in the front if-”

“It’s alright, sir-”

“Really, it’s no trouble, son,” the Sheriff smiled, gesturing for the seat next to Danny that was free at the moment. He could see Stiles watching him from behind his father’s back, looking sort of hurt and honestly he should have just gone sit where the Captain wanted him to.

But…

But this whole shebang was getting annoying. Not much, but just enough to rub him the wrong way. He couldn’t help himself. Even if he should be just quiet.  _ Damnit. _

“Why would any of...,” he paused waving his hand, but not even that could help him find a proper word for the lights, “... _ that _ be dangerous? It seems rather harmless. Usef-”

“Oh no, son, of course it’s not harmful,” the Sheriff said shaking his head. “I would never allow anything malign to remain on the ship. It’s just the sickness it’s associated with I fear. You see my late-”

“He didn’t exactly ask for our family history, _ dad _ , did he?” Stiles interrupted, his voice cold. He then turned to Derek and spoke to him as well: “And I will have you know it’s rude enough to ask about ones species, but to go as far as to ask about the biological-”

“I meant no off-,” Derek tried, but Stiles just snorted, jumping back in: “As your indirect superior-”

“Stiles,” the Sheriff spoke up, shutting him up. “Our crew has all the right to know if there is a danger of-”

“You  _ know _ there is no danger, not for them. Isn’t that enough?” Stiles said, bracing his palms on his knees. His hold looked way too strong to be just for practical purposes. Actually,  his whole posture looked rather rigid and angry. Derek wished he could just stop the conversation altogether at that point.

“Do we really have to involve every-”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Stiles questioned. “It’s not their-”

“It’s our crew, we-”

“We don’t have to-”

“We do-”

“Why?” Stiles argued, gesturing at Derek. “Why do they get to know my whole origin story as if it was nothing private? They don’t tell me  _ their _ -”

“Because, Stiles, I am the Sheriff of this AI vessel and if I deem any sort of information beneficial for my crew to know, then I will share it with them,” the Sheriff said, pulling himself up into his full height in a solid display of authority. “We will not be having this conversation again, son. Not now. Disinformation creates only mistrust. And I will not be fueling rumors. We don’t work like that here.”

Silence.

“Now, son,” the Sheriff said, some sort of unspoken order hidden between the short words. He gestured at Derek.

Stiles pursed his lips and looked back at Derek, his eyes filling up with fluid that was being held off by some sort of miracle only. “I am a Hybrid of the Nano race. It basically means my body produces biological nanobots by millions... I can learn to control them... to some extent anyways.” His damp eyes watched him for any sort of reaction, but Derek wasn’t going to give him any. He heard about Nanos, heard how beneficial they were to have on a ship. How was that anything but good then?

The Sheriff coughed and Stiles’ upper lip twitched, the corners of his mouth sinking down as if he was getting sick from the flight - but that couldn’t be, the stabilizes were still on after all.

“Nanobots often go haywire when not taken care of properly,” Stiles continued at his father’s prompting, “They can cause all sorts of failures to their host - tumors, dementia, carilo… that sort of fun stuff. Not curable by usual medical means of course, what else. Often we just die...” he paused, “...like my mom…” His lower lip trembled, but he managed to hold his tears in anyways. Too proud. Way too proud. He shut his mouth and looked away defiantly. 

“There is nothing to worry about though, son,” the Sheriff said, picking up the sentence. He did have a heart after all. “These sort of things only affect the Nano race. The nanobots would not survive within any other organic matter, not long enough to cause...”

Stiles sniffled, trying to be as inconspicuous about it as possible. Derek noticed anyways. This whole situation was all sorts of awkward. Derek didn’t want to know any of this, he just wanted to know what the fuck-...  _ I shouldn’t have asked anything. Why did I?  _ Nothing he could say now could make the situation better anymore though, could it?

The Sheriff continued talking - explaining how the Nanos in Stiles’ body worked in full detail, but Derek stopped listening. He had no right to this sort of information, not when he couldn’t be as sincere back.

Stiles glared at the back door, Derek watched him silently and Sheriff kept on talking as if his words were nothing but breaths he had to take to save his own life. 

 

~o~

 

The shuttle landed as smoothly as if a feather fell down on a windless summer afternoon. Or maybe it was just the stabilisers that made it feel all smooth and Danny was actually a very shitty pilot using the stabilisers to his own advantage - but Derek doubted that to be true.

They have reached the Docking of the biggest interstellar port on Earth somewhere in the middle of the European continent in less that... 2 hours, Danny had said. Impressive. Derek wished he could get his hands on a shuttle like this at some point of his life. 

Deaton lifted his head as soon as Danny cut off the engine, powering up again. He sat there unmoving, staring ahead. Kinda what Derek did most of the awkward ride too. Good to know he wasn’t the only one drawn to such behaviour... 

Danny walked past them soon after, reaching here and there to switch some things off and then pry the back door open. Sheriff walked right behind him, followed closely by Deaton’s stiff body that jumped up with a mechanical whirring sound.

Derek glanced over at Stiles, but he was already on his way outside as well, ignoring him altogether. That was a good thing.  _ It was. _

The port wasn’t as big as he expected. And he barely even saw any interesting ships docking around them, aside from those which were owned by the IA. Good. Less chances of somebody recognizing him.

The rest of the crew was already standing around the Sheriff, listening in to him and so Derek hurried over as well.

“...ny can go over with Deaton to take care of our  cargo and Derek,” he said pointing at a hallway on their right. “Go get the parts we need with Stiles.We will meet up at the AI barracks or latest here for the departure. All clear?”

Stiles did not object and neither did Derek, but he did catch the lingering look Sheriff gave his son as if he was daring him to say anything. He didn’t though, already fumbling with his bracelet.

“This way,” Stiles beckoned him without any preamble and walked to the nearest exit hallway. Derek followed, his eyes lingering at the panels sliding out from under the shuttle. 

“What are those creatures in the pods for?” he asked Stiles, but he got no answer. 

The door slid open and Derek was greeted by a rabid mixture of sounds. They ended up in a long hall with a few exist doors alongside their own and a few gates made for different kind of travellers and cargo.

The space between him and the other side of the room was full of  _ people _ moving in a steady yet weak stream - some large crew was approaching the gateway at the far end of the hall with an anti-gravity plate full of grey boxes. On the other side, families were approaching the slots. All humans. Well most of them anyways, some crews had, similarly to their Whittemorian, one token species with them, but other than that, there was nothing else that would have indicated this to be a frequent visiting place for different life forms.  _ That’s because it wasn’t _ , Derek noted with satisfaction.

“Welcome to Earth, the cradle of the human civilization,” said a soothing female voice above them and when Derek looked up, he saw a holo above, stretching over the whole opposite wall. A human female was greeting them all over and over in all known languages. (It seemed rather unnecessary though given the species ratio.)

“Are you just gonna stand there?” Stiles shouted, raising his voice from where he approached an empty gateway. He was quite far away already. Derer hurried over.

Turned out, they just had to slap their bracelets over the scan and the rather bored-looking gatekeeper would let them through. IA had an easy entry to almost all dwellings in the known galaxy - and by “known galaxy” they usually described the worlds and races that joined them. Rest didn’t even exist officially.

“Here.” Stiles said, waving as the dispenser at the end of the gate. It was full of goggles… or glasses, weren’t they? Stiles took one and put it over his eyes. The temple tips snapped around the back of his ears with a silent thud.

“Just put those on.”

Derek took them but hesitated. He looked down at them to study the material, then looked through them, but nothing in his vision changed exactly.  _ Wait _ .... there was some sort of feed running down one side of it. And there were some buttons on one side of the temples. 

“What are these for?”

“Just cancels the noise, adjusts the picture,” Stiles shrugged, pressing a few buttons on his own glasses. “Keep you updated, the usual.”

Derek was still skeptical.

“It’s the same as the IA bracelet, but for a whole planet, ya know,” Stiles explained, gesturing at their wrists. “Helps you stay connected. Wait… here.” He came closer to Derek and pressed a few buttons. “The alien mode,” he said, grinning.

Derek lifted them again and looked through the lenses. An arrow appeared on the screen and a voice joined it coming out of the temple tips: “Please proceed to the underground travelling system to get to your selected destination. Please enter your destination for further instructions.”

Derek didn’t find the glasses any more appealing than he did before he knew what they were for. His face must have spoken of his dislike, because Stiles decided to close their conversation with a “Suit yourself.” and went on to follow their designated route.

Derek put the glasses on his head and followed him downstairs, though small crowds of  _ people _ waiting around various parts of a big underground place full for different platforms. Each had a number, a map and a destination. It was all clearly organised and Derek… well, he was kind of surprised by the whole level of… he didn’t exactly know how to call it. This is why he never wrote a diary or anything, the words would just sound as if a simpleton slapped them on a paper… probably.

“Platform 5-21, a last call to board the shuttle to the Prague main station. The shuttle will depart in 38 seconds,” informed the same soothing voice from before. 

“Platform 28-18, a shuttle to Moskau main station will depart in 5 minutes 25 seconds, we ask the passengers to board within the time slot,” she continued.

He could hear announcements like that from all around the place, naming all kinds of… what were they, cities? Or just… maybe he should have checked with his glasses. Before he could do that Stiles gasped and started to run.

“This way,” he heard as they hurried to one of the closest platforms. The holo above the platform informed them they only had 15 seconds to get on board. Luckily Stiles was almost there and Derek was fast, so...

The door beeped loudly and flashed with red light as the time ran out. Then everything closed up, the long shuttle lifted up from the ground and started whizzing on its way into the nearest tunnel.

Derek sat down on the bench right next to Stiles.

“Don’t get too comfortable, we are getting off in about 5 minutes,” he said gesturing for the holo above the door, which had the shuttle’s travel plan displayed. Derek was tempted to go over and tap it for a different language (or use his glasses) but he refrained himself. He understood enough - they were heading to the closest city, which was in turn also the biggest one. A city called -

Something green caught his eyes. It was the holo above one of the seats on his left.  _ No… could it be? _

”Forests?” he asked in wonder. Stiles looked up from whatever he was reading on his lenses, his eyes following his line of sight. “Uhh, yeah like… what do they call those… natural reservoirs? Earth doesn’t have any wild nature anymore.”

Derek nodded, his excitement deflating a bit, but not enough for him to not consider the options. Maybe… maybe he could… he pursed his lips and remained silent, studying the trees printed on the flyer. How accurate was the color on them? It did look sort of artificial, but weren’t it for the different shapes, they would be quite similar to those he used to run around as a child. 

He felt a longing inside he hadn’t ever felt before - it wasn’t bitter, angry and full of regret, it was bubbling deep within him, urging him to….

But that wasn’t going to happen. Not now, not ever. He came to the Beacon to hide from the space. He came there to be safe from those hunting them. He came there to stay in line, unnoticed and invisible, awaiting his time. Frolicking around a forest on his first time out in the open was not an option. 

“Why…? Have you never…?” Stiles asked, but then bit his lip, frowning. Perhaps he was worried Derek will freak out again. Honestly though, it wasn’t really a classified information.

“I did. A long time ago,” he admitted, a nostalgic feeling swelling up in his chest. His eyes lingered on the holo, but then the shuttle stopped at their designated place and the spell was over. 

“This way,” Stiles beckoned, hopping onto a conveyor built in on the left side of the platform. Derek got on too and watched as they passed through the masses of people. He honestly wasn’t able to process much of it. It was a densely moving crowd full of noises and colors… but all very organized and… mindful? Was that the word? He wasn’t sure.

He reached up and pulled down the glasses. “Enter destination” was still flashing in the corner. When he looked at the wall full of holos, a few hints popped up on his lenses wondering if he needed translations or further information about the given topic.

He lifted the glasses up and surveyed the surroundings without them for a bit. Then he put them down again. Ah, there was a door at the far end of the platform that didn’t show up on the glasses. Same went for a man that was just getting into one of the long shuttles. Interesting...

Just as he was about to ask Stiles though, the conveyor turned into moving stairs and they climbed up out of the underground into the outside world for the first time. Finally.

And what greeted him there was kind of unexpected. Blue sky. Fluffy clouds drifting through it. Sunshine.  _ Real sunshine. _

He stopped in his tracks, blinking into the warm sun. It was still way too loud him around. But as for the rest… all around them were high buildings but the sun was right above them as if nothing could stop it from reflecting from each reflecting surface, to bring warmth into their bodies and stinging into their eyes.  _ Whoa.  _ After all those quantons under artificial light, it was more than overwhelming for Derek.

“I bet you were expecting some shithole, weren’t you?” Stiles asked from beside him. He honed in on the voice and blocked out all the rest to become a functioning individual again. 

“An Outsider like you-”

“I didn’t expect anything,” he admitted. He could feel Stiles’ eyes on him for a bit, but then they headed down the street and the rest of the conversation was lost.

 

~o~

 

Stiles got them some sort of a vehicle that just drew around on autopilot - everything was so automatized on Earth, but yet so... he couldn’t find the right word for it. It was as if he wasn’t seeing it all.

While they were riding, both squeezed together at the back of the vehicle, Derek searched his holo for more information on Earth. He should have probably used his glasses, but he wasn’t all that comfortable using the new tech yet. It was easier to just go through the bracelet.

Compared to him, Stiles was an actual tech wizard. His eyes kept darting here and there, issuing all kinds of kinetic orders to the glasses. His lenses were so full of all kinds of separate windows that Derek doubted he could see much of his surroundings. Derek was slightly jealous of that. Stiles probably grew up with these sort of things all around him - the sounds, the colors, the technology… it couldn’t compare to what Derek’s childhood was for him.

_ Do not go there. _

He tapped on the log for Earth and scrolled down the general topic field. He wasn’t sure where to start. 

“Here,” Stiles said from beside him and reached over to tap through a few links on his holo. His fingers were long and nimble. That was a very good shape for fingers.  _ Handy _ , Derek thought absentmindedly.

The holo jumped to a short summary of Earth for visitors and Derek nodded to Stiles in thanks, even though he wasn’t sure if he was paying attention anymore.

 

_ Earth is the third planet from the Sun, a star in the middle of what is regionally known as the “Solar System” (aka Sector //-//-///-). It has been a level D planet (see  _ _ IA Levels _ _ ) up to the start of the IA colonisation, which granted the Earthians the needed technology to move between the interstellar entities and thus the upgrade into a level C planet. _

_ Contrary to all beliefs, the Earth is a colony run by an AI, that had developed its own sentienty and intent before the colonisation even reached the planet, but which had up until the IA initiated its protocol operated in seclusion from the main awareness of the Humans. (see.  _ _ AI reforms _ _ ) _

_ Earth remains a secluded Sector even after quantons of regular contact not only due to its position at the edge of the main travel paths of the known universe, but also because of its lack of serviceable resources, which reached a quite alarming level early on in the human history. (see  _ _ Human history - chapter 5 _ _ ) _

_ The Humans themselves, as a life form…. _

 

Derek looked up from the text when their vehicle stopped near a huge building branded with the IA seal. They have reached the main Tech center of Earth - the place where they will recover the needed parts for Beacon. Why it wasn’t situated right at the Docking station, Derek wasn’t sure, but he didn’t ask either way. It would be a rather useless question anyways. 

Entering the building via the main sliding door, they found themselves once again in a vast hall with a lot of windows at the end. He was starting to wonder if Humans were that fond of queues or if their culture just was that much based around all kind of organisation. Maybe it was just the AI’s rule that made the planet as it was now.

Most of the windows were operated by an automaton but the one that Stiles led them to seemed to be taken care of by an actual human. That’s also where most of the humans were standing patiently.

Derek squinted. 

“Why-”

“Because my bracelet is locked against trade with bots,” Stiles snapped before he could finish the question. “For obvious reasons.”

Derek nodded silently and looked at the woman standing in their window, discussing something with the client. She then winked something into her glasses and beckoned the man to wait next to a slot on the right. The needed parts slid out just a bit later.

The next man had a much longer conversation with her. He handed over his glasses and waited patiently until she recognized the piece he was looking for. Then they began discussing the price and the… why couldn’t the man just use a recognition system or order it via that?

It was an obvious question, but one Derek knew an answer to - socialization was something not many species could live without. No matter how advanced their technology was to keep them alive without any help, it was still something life forms used only as crutches and not as recepies for life. It was something Derek understood rather well. Without his pack, a Shifter would be nothing. Ironically enough, that’s exactly what Derek was - nothing. Not by choice though.

He looked over at Stiles, who was browsing through his glasses and then back down at the holo, wondering if he should resume his reading, but he didn’t feel like it. They would grab the parts and then head back to the IA headquarters. There was no point for him to research Earth in any more detail than he already had. 

~o~

 

Turned out Stiles was obsessively obnoxious when it came to the standard parts. Derek wasn’t sure why they couldn’t have them delivered to their huttle at the Docking, but now he understood.

Stiles took one look at the offered part, scrunched his nose and started furiously negotiating for a different model. And when the woman at the window shook her head, he pulled out a list of alternative parts from which he could then put together his own, “better” alternative all the while muttering something about Earth being below the official AI standards - whatever that meant.

It went on for each part on their order list… up to the point where Derek thought the people behind them must have been getting restless, but no. Some of them just stood there browsing through their glasses, calm and collected. Other’s talked to their neighbour, their lenses clear and perfectly see-through. It was all rather idyllic.

Once Stiles was finally satisfied with all the components, he ordered them to be shipped to their shuttle right away and slapped his bracelet against their pad to complete the purchase. The woman in the window looked rather relieved that she was done with them.

“The nerve,” Stiles shook his head as they were leaving. “Trying to rip us off each and every time. Ugh, these IA techs.”

A thought occurred to Derek. “Did I order the wrong parts?” He could have. Or there could have been an error in the message that would render their form harder to open. Or-

“Nawh,” Stiles said, shaking his head. “The parts weren’t  _ that _ bad. But I’ll be damned if I won’t get the best for my Baby.”

Derek didn’t understand what that meant per se, but he didn’t pry. Stiles seemed to take that as a sign to keep talking.

“I could have installed the same exact navigational panel, but since we need an old part, it only came  second-hand from a different IA ship, that was taken apart on the Moon a while ago and… yuck. I don’t want that in our system, can you imagine?”

Derek couldn’t exactly imagine what was wrong with scavenged parts for as long as they worked fine, but he guessed with the budget IA was offering to each ship, it wasn’t really hard to fall into pickiness.

“Like I don’t wanna boast, but I can put together something way better and durable with the new parts I ordered. And they were altogether a lot cheaper that that old crap of tech too. Since they don’t make that model much anymore. It was the last one around here, yanno. Quite lucky, but still...”

_ Oh. _ Derek blinked. “That’s… actually quite smart,” he admitted, feeling a bit stupid for assuming otherwise.

Stiles looked at him suspiciously. “You sound rather surprised.”

Derek just shrugged and looked away. 

Stiles seemed to have decided it wasn’t worth digging into because the next thing he said was: “Anyhow, since we still got some time, why don’t we go check out those reservoirs?”

_ Wait… what? _

Derek’s eyes snapped back to him.

“What…?”

“Well, you know,” Stiles said shrugging. “The forests? We could take the educational path and walk around a bit or something. It’s not that far away either.”

“But-”

Stiles shrugged again. “Better than waiting around at the IA place, trust me.”

Derek was torn and Stiles took his hesitancy as a sign to continue: “I’ve been once as a child, but I don’t remember much of it, so it might be totally boring, but it’s not like we got anything better to do anyway.”

Derek didn't know what to say. He didn’t even know if what he felt was a positive kind of excitement or utter terror at entering an environment that was so familiar yet so alien to him. Could they really…?

“I thought you had other plans,” he said weakly.

Stiles shrugged.  _ Wasn’t that like a fourth time already? _ “I don’t. And besides, I could use some bonding with the Mother Nature myself. I haven’t hugged a tree in years.”


	6. Chapter 6

 

Green. Green. Green everywhere.

Derek stood at the gate to the reservoir, his chest heaving and his eyes far too wide for their own comfort. He couldn’t believe that what he was seeing was true, but it unmistakably was, since he could smell it in the air - the moisture, the earthiness, all the different plants - so different from his home planet yet so familiar.

He walked down the path a bit, passing a family with three little children that were chasing each other down the soft gravel. His fingers trembled slightly as he reached out and pressed the pads of his fingers against the tree trunk in front of him. 

“Please stay within the marked path,” he could hear from his glasses, but the voice was too far for him to register. He slid his fingers over the rough wood and his pads tingled with anticipation. 

He looked up at the branches above him. He never saw leaves like that… if they could even be called leaves. They looked more like needles of sorts. He reached up and poked the end of the closest needle. It wasn’t as sharp as he had imagined.

“Done fondling the pine, dude?” Stiles teased from behind him. Derek found he didn’t mind it just as much anymore. He probably wouldn’t care even if somebody decided to stab him in the spleen just then either. That was how busy he was taking it all in.

He stepped from the tree, back onto the gravel. It made a pleasant sound under his shoes.

“What are those needles for? Protection?” he wondered aloud.

Stiles just rolled his eyes and lifted his hand to tap the glasses sitting comfortably on his nose. “Why don’t you just use these?”

Derek shrugged, then pushed the glasses from the top of his face down onto his nose and looked back to the pine.

The lenses offered him a short summary of the main attributes of the tree, but after reading a few words, he realized he didn’t care much of the actual text. He was in a forest. An actual forest. He might as well enjoy the nature as much as he could. The glasses would just be in his way.

 

~o~

 

Derek could feel eyes on him, but he ignored the feeling as they walked through the reservoir. He didn’t care if Stiles watched him front the corner of his eye. All the things around him were too marvelous,... too visceral to ignore - the rustling green leaves and grass blades, the buzzing tiny wings, the brown dirt crunching under their shoes - at some point Stiles just pointed wordlessly down a smaller path and then down and even smaller one, obviously following some map on his lenses and the population around then grew sparser and sparser as the gravel got swallowed by the dirt… and then it was just the two of them and the nature.

Every once in a while he could hear his glasses trying to inform him about this or that, but he didn’t have the capacity to listen to any of it. He filed it under “read about later” and let his eyes soak into the green shades enveloping them.

God, how he wished to run through that foliage and let go of this weak disguise, but… this was fine too.  _ This was more than fine _ , he told himself, smiling. This was more than he was ever hoping of experiencing again. This was like home. (Not really, but you get the jist of it.)

“I didn’t know you were even able to smile, dude,” Stiles said, snorting as he walked next to him.

Derek did not deem the words worthy of an answer. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. This deep in the forest it felt almost free of the artificial cleanness of the air filters in the city. It was a bliss. How long was it since he breathed in naturally-produced air?

“Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Stiles asked, stopping just a few steps in front of Derek. He crouched down and put his hands on the grass, his fingers sliding between the individual blades.

Derek smiled a bit more. And then his smile wavered as he caught a pair of very silent voices somewhere in-between the trees at the other side of the green wall.

“That one,” said the first voice.

“Which?” the second wondered. There was a barely hearable rustle of leaves as a body leaned forward. Derek turned his head up, pretending to be enjoying the sun filtering through the branches and listened in.

“The skinny one.”

“How so?”

“Nano.”

Derek blinked and walked down the path to be closer to Stiles just in case. Stiles was talking about something, but he didn’t pay any attention to this words anymore. Instead he focused on the voices. Where were they? He couldn’t look. It would be way too suspicious if he started to look around. He could more or less pinpoint the direction by ears only but that wasn’t enough. Not if he didn’t know if they were armed or not.

“Don’t look like Nano,” the second voice said, sniffling in disbelief.

“Hybrid I guess.”

“Still a win,” the second voice admitted after a bit of thinking.

“Fucking yeah,” the first voice said, a grin almost hearable in thee tone of his voice.

_ Shit. _

He made a show out of looking down at his bracelet, considering their options. How to get Stiles off here without without to much ruckus? What would be a good thing to say? That the crew is waiting for them, so they should hurry back? Stiles wouldn’t be able to play along since he couldn’t hear as far to know what was brewing behind the foliage. A charade like that would blow up in his face.  _ There must be a better option. Think. Think _ .

“What about other dude?” the second voice asked and Derek pursed his lips, waiting.

“Nah, human,” came an answer, making Derek exhale a bit more deeply than he usually would. Luckily, given the surroundings, it wasn’t really a suspicious action on his part. 

_ Would they risk to attack them just to get to Stiles? _ Derek wondered as he crouched next to him and reached over to stroke his fingers through the grass too. It barely registered.  _ They probably wouldn’t, or? _

There was a barely audible rustle from their position, a third life form joining them. A woman.

“You fool, look at those readings,” she said.

_ Damn it. What kind of a scan did they have? _

“You okay?” Stiles asked, looking over at him.

“Yeah… yeah,” he muttered, nodding. But on the inside he could feel the panic rising. If they had a substance scan, it wouldn’t take them long to figure out he wasn’t human… and then they of course wouldn’t hesitate to snatch them up. Stiles on his own was probably worth a lot. If you count Derek into it… it was an opportunity nobody would want to miss.

“A bit too perfect for a human, dontcha think?” she said after a while. He should have been more careful.  _ Damn it _ .  _ Too late now. _

“No malfunctions anywhere. It’s too perfect.”

Stiles’ hand moved closer to his as he leaned over to glance over at his face. “You sure, you’re fine? Is the green making you dizzy?”

“Think Nano too?” the second voice asked.

“Scan would show that,” she answered. “Might be a Holo suit.” That conclusion wasn’t any better, albeit it was not true.

Derek reached over and grabbed Stiles’ hand. He looked up at him.  _ They had to go. Now.  _ But if they made any suspicious moves now… they obviously had weapons with them. Was it worth it?

“Holy shit,” the first voice muttered. “Must be one of those expensive ones. The scan didn’t even blink.”  _ Too late. _ “That  _ and _ a Nano?”  _ Way too late. _ “ Fucking double jackpot.”  _ Think.  _ But he came up empty.

“I don’t have a plan,” Derek whispered, trying to communicate with Stiles via his eyes only. Not that it was working much. Stiles looked rather confused - he glanced down at his hand and then up at Derek again.

“Okay…?” he said, frowning a bit.

“You will have to trust me and not do anything stupid,” Derek mouthed urgently, squeezing Stiles’ hand.

“Dude, you are kinda freaking me out.” Stiles bit out, snatching his hand away. “What…”

He could hear the woman mutter a command as they approached. “Disable the filters.”

“Just trust me,” Derek repeated and then closed his eyes. There was a click of three safeties, a rustle and the voices finally joined them out in the open. He could hear Stiles exhale in surprise and then curse under his breath.

“Hi fellas, why don’t you join our private party?”

 

~o~

 

Derek didn’t fight and neither did Stiles, which was actually kind of surprising. He just shared a short glance with Derek and then nodded. Lifting his hands to show he was unarmed he stood up. Calmly. Smartly.

They both waited to see what would happen. Another smart move. It turned out these three were not a pack of regular snatchers one could simply outsmart - the way their formation left no room to disarm any of them, the manner with which they managed to dispose of their IA bracelets without a worry line on their human faces, the simple fact that they weren’t concerned about taking them there and then… it meant something. 

These were not to be messed with and Derek would rather stay conscious enough to come up with a plan than to wake up in a pod that was sending him who-knew-where for a who-knew-how-high price. Apparently, Stiles was thinking the same thing. Smart indeed.

They walked deeper into to the reservoir, the two men walking behind them with guns trained directly at them the whole way. The woman was walking in front of them. And nobody reacted even as they crossed a more populated area...no women screaming, no children crying… nothing. People just walked with their glasses tightly on their noses as if nothing was happening.

The glasses obviously had a perception filter on them to block out the undesirable pictures and sounds. How was it that these three were on that list of exceptions? Derek could understand maintenance or some other individuals, but for snatchers to have a this high position on a planet… wouldn’t that mean this whole place was some sort of a charade?

He glanced over at Stiles, unsure. He didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation. Remain calm and what? What would Peter do? He would just kill these three… but Derek couldn’t. Not with bare hands, not as a human, not without risking exposure. They didn’t know who he was yet… and they won’t know until quite a bit later - he needed to keep that card in his sleeve and wait for the right opportunity.

Wait.

Wait some more.

Waiting wasn’t any better than fighting. But it was the smarter option here. 

 

~o~

 

It didn’t take long before they reached a maintenance tower rising above the trees of the reservoir, shiny and gleaming. And on top of it, Derek could see a small shuttle with a logo made out of three trees on it.

They used a small elevator - one man going up with Derek first, not even blinking in those few moments they had to themselves. It was an opportunity indeed, Derek knew, but he couldn’t take it. Not yet. 

And it was good that he didn’t, because once they’ve reached the top of the tower, the guy waved over the edge signaling the rest of them that they could follow after. Derek would have never known that a middle finger was the sign and all the previous waiting would have been for nothing. _ Patience _ , he told himself,  _ patience _ . 

Once the whole group was back together, the snatchers maneuvered them inside, shoving Stiles to one side of the cargo bench and Derek to the other. The door locked behind them. Stiles looked up at Derek, his lips forming a thin line… they both knew what the locked door meant. It meant their chances of escaping just sank even lower.

Stiles’ eyes moved pointedly to the right. He could open the door at any time - Derek understood - they just had to…

“No plotting, boys,” the woman said from when she was standing in the doorway to the small pilot cabin. She was holding a needle in her hand, smiling rather unpleasantly.

“I… I wasn’t-,” Stiles whispered in terror, which startled Derek slightly. Those were the first words any of them had actually spoken ever since the safeties went off. What was going on? Did Stiles finally snap under the pressure?

The woman walked into the cargo area. “Oh, well even if you wanted to…”

She grabbed Stiles’ biceps and Stiles blanched. 

“No, don’t,” he snapped, jerking away, his eyes glued to the needle. “I won’t-”

The woman tsked, her grin revealing her white teeth. “A promise ain’t enough, darling,” she chastised, reaching out to grab Stiles. He tried to jump out of the way, but the space was cramped, so he only hit the door. She backed him into the corner fast enough.

“No, please, please don’t,” Stiles begged as she towered over him. 

Derek wasn’t sure what was going on - if there was something dangerous in her needle or what, but the tone of Stiles’ voice unsettled him. Maybe they should risk a-

“Nah-ah, bucko,” he heard from the door. One of the men was standing there, his gun trained in Derek’s direction. Since they still didn’t take off yet, shooting inside was not a problem. He couldn’t risk it. Or maybe he could… but he just  _ couldn’t _ . Not like this. They would know. And they couldn’t know. For now he could only watch...

“No, no-no, please,” Stiles begged, but the woman pushed a gun under his chin, forcing his head to the side. “Please, I won’t, please… please…” But she didn’t acknowledge the words in the slightest and showed the needle right into the side of his neck.

Stiles whimpered, his face contorting - not in pain, but in pure terror. Derek had to bite the inside of his lip so he wouldn’t do anything stupid. 

“What was that for?” he asked. “We were cooperating.”

Nobody answered. The woman pulled Stiles upright, strapping him in, while the man did the same with Derek. The straps were adjusted to work as immobilisers as well, pinning them to the benches and to the walls. They reinforced his in case his Holo suit had enhancements.  _ Well, shit, this wasn’t looking good. _

Stiles didn’t struggle, not voluntarily, but he was shaking and sounded out of breath as if he just ran a marathon. Derek didn’t like it. He tried to catch his eyes, but they were unfocused… the humming he heard around him  was suddenly unhearable, somehow muffled. Derek didn’t need to know what was the needle for anymore.

“It will be okay,” he whispered unable to help himself. The woman laughed and so did Stiles. His chuckle  was a lot more breathless though. He leaned back, banging the wall with the back of his head and then just closed his eyes as he breathed through the panic attack on his own. Derek could feel the quilt seep into his heart with every startled breath Stiles took in. He should have done something back at the reservoir, cover be damned. It was too late for such thoughts now though.

“Lucky you, we don’t have a jammer here,” the woman said, smiling from where she sat down next to him. She put a hand on his knee, stroking it gently, lovingly. Derek wanted to throw up. 

“But no worries, we will pry it off you sooner or later. Or you know, the buyer will.”

The look she gave him reminded him of… no. He blinked a few times, chasing the memory away with brute force. This was not the time to dwell on the past. He needed to remain as clear-headed as possible. Especially since Stiles was out for now.

“Don’t play with the goods,” said the man in the doorway. He spat on the floor in disgust. 

She turned to her partner. “I wouldn’t if we just took the fuck off already. What’s taking them so fucking long?”

The man shrugged and at the same time the back door opened and three more snatchers pilled inside.

“What? Nothing?” the woman asked, cackling. “We win!.”

The door locked once again and the shuttle fired up its engines, lifting off to fly them to who-knew-where.

 

~o~

 

It was cramped in the cargo area with four snatchers sitting with them - one at each side of Stiles, one at Derek’s right, the woman on his left.

The air turned heavy way too quickly and Derek had trouble breathing properly - it wasn’t for the fact that the woman kept stroking his knee, her nails digging into the muscles of his thigh - no, it was because the air filter wasn’t built for sustaining the crew in space. Yep. They were no doubt out in space, which was…  _ just grand. _ Fuck. If they had stayed on the Earth, their chances would have been bigger, but if the snatchers planed to bring them to their vessel, in the middle of fucking nowhere, the chances of escaping were down to a minimum.

Stiles must have been thinking the same, because the sides of his mouth sank more and more with each tremor, that shook the shuttle as they were passing through the atmosphere. Now he just sat there, staring at the ceiling, looking tired and dazed. But at least the panic attack passed. Not that that was any improvement on their situation.

Shit.

_ Shit. _

 

~o~

It didn’t take long for them to dock, which meant they were approximately as far from the Earth as the Beacon was, just a tad further. Not that  _ that _ was any helpful to know, but it gave Derek hope. The vessel might have been on the totally opposite side of the Earth, shielded by the planet, keeping the distance from the usual orbital points of the IA, but it was still better than knowing nothing.

Well… he learned only a mere moments after that he was wrong, so very wrong.

They detached them from the benches, leaving them partially strapped in the immobilisers and pushed them out of the shuttle. Derek looked up and…  _ oh no _ . This was not a spaceship, that much he could already understand from the way the dock was built. But then… where? Could it be they were still on Earth? But how come…?

His mind was racing with questions he didn’t dare to ask while they ushered them between all kinds of maintenance shuttles. Derek saw ones marked with tech logos, some with the same trees as their own had… this charade obviously ran deep. Deeper than he’d expected. That realisation made his heart sink -  the escape might not even be possible anymore.  _ Shit. _

He glanced over at Stiles, who looked back at him with the expression of total surrender.  _ Well, double shit. _

“You’re late!” an old woman greeted as they exited the dock area. She was dressed in a handmade sweater which was way too big for her, making her look even smaller. Not that  _ that _ mattered, but Derek was too distraught to focus on practical things.

“The auction is almost over.”  _ Ah, maybe... _

“Let’s hurry then,” the woman ordered, dragging them down the well-lit hallway on the right. “We have to get rid of these fast, it’s IA merch.”  _ Nevermind. _

The corridor wasn’t long. It ended with a small door in front of which was a trio of snatchers with a scared looking female alien form. Her speakers were torn out for obvious reasons. Derek’s heart started hammering against his chest. This wasn't good. This was way too fast. If he didn’t do anything, they would… what was the chance of them-

“Don’t,” Stiles muttered from beside him. “It’s not worth it.” He must have noticed Derek’s muscles tensing. He just didn’t understand, Derek could actually burst out of the bonds at any time. He didn’t know they could have been free a long time ago.

Derek was a coward though. Even now, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Stiles,” he whispered, looking over at him. They shared a look and in one terrifying moment, they found comfort in not being alone in this mess.

But then the door opened and the snatchers in front of them pushed the female inside and Derek caught a glimpse of the huge oval construction which was in fact a very modern medical scanner and the moment was over. He gulped, panicky, backing up. The muzzle of a gun pushed against his back made him stop though.

_ No, no no… _ it was indeed a medical scanner at the center of the room, surrounded by hundreds if not thousands floating cam bots, that circled the scanner in a lazy motion. Each of them greeted them with a red dormant light.

The woman was forced inside of the scanner, which clicked a few times and then one after another, few of the cam bots, moved closer, the light on the top of them turning green.

The door closed tight, obscuring Derek’s view, but he didn’t need to see more. He knew what was going on. He knew what was at stake. His cover wouldn’t hold against that sort of a scanner. He needed to-

“Now, now, let’s not make this all more difficult than it already it,” the woman said patting the medical pocket at the side of the attire. “I would rather not damage the goods before the auction, but I will if I will have to.”

So, it was her and the guy with the gun behind him and… four more snatchers. The odds were small, true, but-

The door opened again and the man on his right grabbed Stiles, pulling him along. He didn’t resist, but he did turn around to look at Derek one last time. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed. “This is all my fault.”

_ No. No, it wasn’t _ , Derek wanted to shout,  _ you don’t know anything _ . But he couldn’t bring his mouth to work. He could only watch helplessly as they guided Stiles through the room full of cam bots and into the scanner. Stiles turned his back to Derek.

The moment the scan clicked, a vast majority of the bots circled Stiles and turned green. The door closed again before the winner of the auction could be determined, but Derek knew… that was the last time he would see Stiles if he didn’t fucking  _ do something _ . The last time. And it wasn’t about Stiles being his colleague or friend or acquaintance or whatever… he was a life form and life forms should not be sold like some sort of slaves. 

A growl erupted from his throat. 

The woman in front of him startled, her hand grabbing a stun gun from her medical pocket but she was too slow. Derek already rammed into her sending her sprawling. There was a shot and electricity passed through Derek’s left calf, but he paid it no heed. He could grow new muscles, new body… he couldn’t grow freedom. Nor for him nor for Stiles.

He turned around and forced the muscles on his arms to expand. They couldn’t tear thought the bonds though, not right away anyways. He was too slow, too fucking slow, not used to combat shifting. He should have taken Peter up on that training offer. Too late now. Too late. 

There was another shot. And another. The snatchers were not wasting any time. He could feel electricity run right through him, but took a step forward anyways. Another stunner hit him. And then one more. He wasn’t even sure how many it were until he couldn’t take it anymore and fell to the ground. His muscles were unresponsive, convulsing.  _ Fuck! Come on! _

The door opened again and two snatchers grabbed him by the bonds and pulled him inside. He would have fought against it, but the stunners were way too strong - they were calibrated to knock off a high-tech Holo suit after all and he was nowhere near that powerful right now nor could he shift. His muscles didn’t want to listen to him. 

He couldn’t do anything else than let them pull him across the room with the cam bots all around and put him in the centre of the scanner. The electricity racing through his body was gone in the next instant, so that is would not interfere with the flash. It was too late though. Too freaking late. They would know… they will all know.

Before he could even stand up, the scanner clicked and clacked and all the cam bots in the room went batshit crazy when the readings got to them.

Derek was screwed.


	7. Chapter 7

### 

Derek watched the waves of green envelope him, creating some sort of a glowing cave that moved all around the scanner - a mad dance of frantic bidding that scared the living hell out of him. He didn’t know what was going on behind the lenses. He didn’t know who was actually winning the auction, nor how high the price ricocheted, but he knew that somewhere among those cams, behind those feeds, _they_ lurked, watching him, elated. They got him. Their search was over. There will be no stopping them.

Derek pushed himself up on his elbows, looking around frantically. The green was blinding him, the lights smearing into lines all around him, creating some sort of a glowy tornado.

Maybe they have actually bought him already. And if they did… then there was no doubt in his mind that they will use him to bait Peter, to get them both. He couldn’t let that happen… he couldn’t cause any more deaths in his-

Before anything more could happen though, the room went totally dark. It wasn’t just the lights, but also the bots, which… how? An orchestra of metallic thunking filled the room as they fell to the ground, unresponsive, dead. Derek looked around, startled.

Despite the dark around him, he could see the trio of snatchers move from the wall where they were cheering till now, moving in to grab him. He will have to fight them off this time no matter what. It was a good thing that he had an advantage of actually seeing what was going on around him, even in the dark. Derek stood up, ready.

The snatchers stopped when the devices in the corners moved. Lights erupted from them, blue and vibrant and criss-crossed in front of Derek. Pixels rose up, building a three dimensional face. A face that Derek recognized - it was the woman he saw on all the screens in the docking station, the owner of the voice that was filling his ears through the glasses, the woman who no doubt caused the outbreak as well - the Earth’s AI.

 

~o~

 

There wasn’t anything special about her features. One would have expected her to be perfect, symmetrical, but she looked so ordinary, Derek only now noticed that her eyes were way too close to each other and her nose was a bit too upturned. What skin color did she have under those blue hues of the projection? He couldn’t tell. While he had seen her before, she was utterly forgettable.

“This individual has been categorized as an endangered species and is therefore pardoned,” she announced.

The woman from the trio of snatchers did not look pleased about that. Figures.

“What? Come oon,” she grumbled, but the man next to her grabbed her arm to yank her back, shaking his head resolutely. The word of the AI seemed to equal law here as well.

“What about the Nano I was with?” Derek asked.

She ignored his question. “You may leave this facility as a free life form and-”

“I am not leaving without him,” Derek stated.

The AIs lips thinned and although it would have been a very human gesture, it looked somehow trained on her face. Like something artificial was moving the muscles into the needed position. Or maybe Derek was just prejudiced. He probably was… given the situation.

“The Nano Hybrid has been categorized as a property of the Moon and is therefore not a free life form with any sort of rights in this facility,” she recited. “The-”

“I am not leaving without him,” Derek repeated tersely. He knew he was playing with fire, he knew he could have just went and reported back to the Captain in a vague hope that Stiles will be saved… but he couldn’t do it. By the time Derek would get to the Beacon, Stiles could he already halfway through the Solar System in a pod that was untraceable and a destination that was encrypted. He couldn’t leave him behind. Even if he had to risk them keeping him chained up as well.

“Any imprisonment of an endangered species is a direct violation of the Source Code. The pardoned individual _will_ -”

“What about the IA laws? You can’t just-”

“The Intergalactic Alliance has no authority over the Moon-”

“The Earth belongs to-”

“The Moon is not registered as a part of the IA cluster and is therefore under no obligation to respond to such laws,” the AI said. _Great, a loophole._ A loophole the IA probably knew about and tolerated for the sake of their own profit. A loophole that made whatever points Derek might have had to appeal for Stiles’ sake invalid.

The AI smiled as if she knew there was no way around her reasoning and the door behind her slid open. He was free to go. And by the looks of it, if he wouldn’t leave by himself the snatchers would just pull him out themselves. In fact, one of them already stepped in closer to the scanner, beckoning him.

“Come on, bucko,” he said. “We will get you back down.”

Derek hesitated. It was tempting of course, but _… think, there must be a way._

“We will get you off the Moon, either way,” the man added, waving his stunner.

The AI started to dissolve. She was obviously done with this conversation, having said all she needed, but Derek wasn’t… _he wasn’t_. There had to be something he could say.

He watched the pixels fly off her face, dissolving above her. Saw the stunner flicker in the corner of his eye. _Think, Derek, think_ … he had to save Stiles. If he didn’t then who… wait.

“You know the identity of the Nano, don’t you? Open his IA file, authorization Derek Kasai 170/1999,” Derek said hurriedly. He side-stepped to get further away from the snatcher and concentrated on his muscles while he talked.

“The AI vessel on the orbit - find the file on Beacon. Search for the Captain!” He tensed his muscles and the bonds snapped. The snatcher stopped, watching him cautiously. He beckoned to the rest of his trio to help him out. Derek didn’t have much time, the AI holo was almost gone, but he knew she could still hear him. She definitely did.

“Access his file, same authorization code. Open his evaluation logs,” he ordered hurriedly. “And now reevaluate if the risk is of keeping the Nano here is really worth it.”

Derek was going in blind. He wasn’t really sure if the Stilinskis were that close to each other even despite the strive between them, but he could have imagine that… there must have been some sort of a bond between them. The Captain lost his wife, Stiles lost his mother - that… if that wasn’t a reason enough to wreak havoc to get his son back…

They were all waiting for the result - Derek and the snatchers alike.

“Invalid,” she said and that was when the first stunner hit him. He didn’t dawdle around though. He grabbed the wire, his arms strong and steady, and pulled with all his might. The stunner flew out of the man's hand and landed on the floor.

The woman tried to hit him as well, but Derek jumped to the side, diving and rolling on the floor. His right leg was still under electricity, so he reached over quickly and tore the hook out from under his knee.

“Get him!” the woman yelled at the men, but Derek was already at the other side of the room behind them, speeding up…

He grabbed one of them and threw him out of the opened door, then pushed the woman to the floor and kicked the legs from under the remaining guy.

He grabbed them both and threw them out as well. They landed on the man that was already in the middle of standing up. They flattened him to the ground.

There was no time to lose, Derek turned around and ran to a side-door he noticed while he was talking to the AI. It was locked of course.

“Escort the pardoned individual-” he could hear all around him, but he ignored the AI’s voice. He needed to get to Stiles. He needed to find him and get him out of this fucking place.

He rammed his fist into the door, it didn’t bulge. He rammed it in again, forcing his muscles to shift, to get stronger, to do his bidding. The metal bent slightly. Not enough…

“Get him off the auction room!” somebody yelled from the hallway and he could hear several voices squabbling about using guns. Their argument was settled by and old-sounding voice. Apparently the AI wanted to preserve his life. How kind.

Derek took a few steps back, shifting as much as he could in the small amount of time he had left. His body grew bigger, stronger, more agile and far superior than any ounce of metal gilded into a simple door could be.

The snatcher woman screamed as she saw the change happening and her stunner fell to the ground. One of the men who was talking to his holo stopped and stared as well. Derek had other things to do than to enjoy the attention though. He ran against the door and broke through with one swift movement.

He didn’t stop, he couldn’t… he ran down the corridor following the scent. Stiles. _He_ went this way. He turned left and then right, plummeted through a few humans on the way who were armed with stunners. They did try to stop him but he ignored their attempts and just ran on.

Another door stood in his way. It was closed and didn’t seem to be opening any time soon, so he sped up, sinking down to all four and rammed into it. Something in his shoulder crackled, splintering through his flesh, but the door gave in a bit and he was able to push it out of the way at least enough for him to pass through.

It was just another hallway, but that was okay. He could just follow Stiles’ scent until… the fans in the wall whirled at full speed, filtering the air in the hallway. The scent he was tracking disappeared in an instant. All he could smell was clean artificial air. _Shit._

The door down the hallway opened revealing a few snatchers armed with stunners. He could hear footsteps from behind the broken-down door. He was cornered.

Derek growled, shifting even further to reveal his long sharp teeth. The snatchers stopped, keeping their distance, but that could only hold them off for so long, especially when the AI kept chanting her annoying words over and over again: “Escort the pardoned individual-”

There were two doors down the hallway, one a bit closer to the snatchers waiting for him and one closer to him, a bit more to the left. Just as he was about to head for the closer one, a stunner hit him in the neck. He could feel his muscles convulsing, the electricity triggering involuntary shifts, but… one stunner was nothing. He reached behind, tore it out of his flesh and ran for the door.

He jumped at the wall opposite of the door, used it as a stepping-stone and rammed into the door in full strength. He probably broke his shoulder blade doing that, but the door gave in with a haunting creak and he slipped inside with a painful whine tearing out of his throat. Frantic footsteps followed after him, but he used the busted door to barricade himself in the cabin.

 _Now what?_ \- he wondered silently as he leaned against the heavy door, willing his shift to fix his broken bones. The bones refused to fix though, his mind wasn’t in the right place for such a ritual - he was too panicked, too unfocused.

He stepped away from the door, falling down on all four (actually three because the broken shoulder blade wouldn’t let him move his right arm) and exhaled through his long teeth. It hurt quite a lot. He could… he couldn’t… for fuck’s sake. Derek closed his eyes, breathing erratically.

The snatchers were trying to get in, trying to trigger the emergency override on the broken door, the AI could not help them with that, they needed to send somebody to get some heavy machinery for that. The AI dispatched some droids, which meant he still had a bit of time.

He looked around the cabin in hope to find something that could help him. Anything. And what he saw… the cabin was full of transport pods. They were lining the walls in a few rows on each side, leading to another door that was so reinforced Derek would be in no shape capable of getting through it - which meant only one thing. That was a door that led out into the Dock. Which meant…

Derek looked around the pods, ignoring the ones with a red light near the control panel casing - those had a closed window and he couldn’t see in without the code anyways. That was fine though. Red meant empty.

The closest green one was housing a life form Derek didn’t know the name of - it was already wired up into the pod’s internal system, sleeping a dreamless cryo sleep.

He turned around to the row on the other side of the cabin and spotted the woman that was sold before Stiles. Her eyes were open and full off terror, but she wasn’t moving. She was probably wired in for a while already, so the drugs must have kicked in. She would be asleep in no time.

So then… his eyes skipped to the last green pod on the left and met with Stiles’. He had his hand on the small glass window, staring at him with eyes full of disbelief.

Before any of them could say or do anything though, the door was broken through and a volley of stunners hit Derek, forcing him to the floor. He fell, boneless, his body flopping around like a life form who was forced out of the water. He couldn’t do much… not when the snatchers walked in grabbing him by the legs, not when they started to pull him out. He reached out, trying to sink his claws into the floor, but his arms were weak and his muscles were shifting in a way that was not natural to him. He couldn’t even breathe properly. Grabbing was a concept foreign to his brain at this state.

The big reinforced door opened and Derek saw the shuttle from the reservoir ready to load him in. _No, no_ … he looked up at the pod that had Stiles in it. He had to… he had to somehow… _no_.

“Stiles!” he yelled, the word coming out as a howl. “Stiles!”

He could see him watching through the thick glass of the pod. He could see him frowning in confusion and disbelief, his hand pressed against the plexi and…Derek couldn’t actually see any of it. His brain was feeding him all of this on its own.

The snatchers dragged him out of the cabin right into the Docking area and the reinforced door slid closed. He wanted to fight, wanted to bust through the door and… but he couldn’t. He couldn’t even move properly. The electricity was too much.

That was when he realized the truth of the situation:  He couldn’t save Stiles. He wouldn’t be able to save him.

They restrained his flopping body with bonds he knew were designed for a far greater threat then he was and then they pulled him into the shuttle.

It was a small consolidation that the electricity was cut off once the engines kicked in. It was a small consolidation that he had survived… free. He left Stiles behind. And though he didn’t think of Stiles as anything more than a colleague and although he barely knew him and although they were practically strangers… the fact that he alone was allowed to go and Stiles had his freedom forcefully taken from him… it dug in way too deep.

He failed him. Same as he failed his pack all those quantons ago. Nothing changed. Nothing ever will.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Good morning :)
> 
> __________

 

Derek didn’t struggle when they pushed him off the shuttle, still bound, still in the air. It wasn’t really that far off the surface, but he landed painfully anyways. His broken bones protested loudly enough for Derek to grunt as he hit the platform at the reservoir. They didn’t wait around for him to get free, nor did they check if he was all well. They just flew away, back to the Moon, probably to collect their payoff.

There was somebody else on the platform. A young human girl stood at the edge and once Derek registered her, he contemplated to roll right into her and push her off the platform. Because he was just that angry. But she wasn’t the one who needed to be punished.

“Whoa,  _ what _ are you?” she asked, moving a bit closer to get a better look at him. She looked as old as Cora was when…  _ no, stop, focus _ .

It was dark outside and even darker so in the reservoir. He wasn’t sure if it was the same platform as the one before,… His sense of space was all over the place. He growled at her, struggling in the bonds. He couldn’t get them off, not even in this form.

“Dude, stop struggling,” she said rolling her eyes. She didn’t seem to be worried about much. “Wait... _ wait, _ just let me. Jeezus.”

She reached over and pressed a magnetizer against the pad on the bonds. The assemble went slack almost  immediately and he was on his feet just as fast, baring his teeth at her. She jumped back a bit, watching him cautiously.

“You wouldn’t hurt your driver, wouldya?”

He contemplated that for a bit and then shook his head. She nodded back at him satisfied.

“So you are actually the first one that got pardoned in a very long time, dude. Suck for you I guess,,” she said, turning around to head to the elevator. “Come on, I will get you back home. Or you know, to the port anyways.”

“I need to get back,” he said, the growling and a mouth full of fangs probably making his words indistinct.

She stopped, peered back at him and then shrugged. “No, can’t do, I’m afraid. Why would you want to go there, anyways? They ain’t gonna sell you anyways. Try elsewhere.”

“No,” Derek admitted angrily. “They… they have my…” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. 

“It’s too late, man. Come on, let’s get you back,” she said, pushing the button on the elevator.

Derek didn't’ know what to do. He didn’t understand what was happening. It was all way too bizarre. He was up there just a few moments ago, fighting a dozen of snatchers and now he was here - back on Earth - and this girl was just acting as if nothing was happening. As if she was just some… driver to get him back from a fun night out. But that...

“Come on,” she said as the elevator door opened.

Derek swallowed, looked back at the sky and then back at the girl. 

“But I need to,” he repeated dumbly. What did he exactly need to do? He couldn’t get back to the shuttle, it was nowhere to be seen. It was… and even if he did manage to somehow get back to the Moon station. Stiles was probably gone already… he was...

“I need a shuttle to go back,” he tried to explain, but his words slurred.

She signed, letting the door close. “Look, I don’t think Imma the right person for this kind of shit. You can’t go back. This is not how it works. So… why don’t you tell me which port you need to be exported to, so I can finally go home today.”

Derek didn’t think he understood what was going on, but he guessed he had no other choice anyways. He was tired and hurt and he didn’t even know where he was and how to get back to the Sheriff. He didn’t have his bracelet, nor his glasses and he didn’t have…  _ Stiles _ , he thought bitterly.

“So are you coming or not?” she asked impatiently.

Derek looked down at his shifted body and pursed his lips. “I need to change back first.” His clothes were in pieces. Right. 

“And  I… need some clothes,” he added awkwardly. 

The girl looked at him then down at her coat and sighed.

 

~o~

 

“So what’s the deal here? Why the special treatment? Gimme all the stuff, ” the girl asked a she drove him through the silent night streets of the city. There weren’t many humans out and about, only here and there a few walked around in loud groups. It was way past 3am she had said as if that was supposed to mean anything to Derek.

She couldn’t stop asking shit. But he didn’t deem her questions worthy of answering. He was barely keeping his eyes open at this point. His bones ached, not exactly broken anymore but… but he was glad for the pain, for the exhaustion. He relished in it, forcing himself to accept it as a part of his punishment and approval at the same time.

“Can’t imagine such cool alien not getting sold. What you like change into other animals too?” she went on.

Derek didn’t even care for being called an alien, an animal at that. Even if that usually would be unacceptable. He barely cared about anything at that moment.

“Seriously though, wontcha tell me? This is like the most exciting thing that happened to me, apart from petting a real dog a few years back, yanno. They sold him too. A Rarity. Speaking of which, your other form-”

“Why are you  _ people _ doing this?” Derek asked suddenly unable to listen to her blabber anymore. “Why?” He needed to know. 

She hummed, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

“Like what exactly? The Moon business?” she asked casually. It was pissing Derek off. He wanted to break something.  _ Her _ for starters and then work himself down the list, all the way down to the pod keeping Stiles sealed away. That was the last and most important thing.

“Why?” he asked again, growling. He could feel his teeth getting sharper and welcomed it. 

“Pfsshhht, I dunno.” She shrugged. “Some economic thing or other. I am just a driver honestly. You want me to understand these things?”

“But it’s wrong!” he barked, hitting the panel in front of him.

“Wow, dude, calm down,” she said quickly, reaching over to pat the panel.

“I don’t… I don’t understand,” Derek muttered, actually feeling bad for almost attacking the girl. It wasn’t her fault that this whole planet was twisted.

“Ugh, well, of course you don’t,” she said. “It’s not like you know how it was before the AI. It was like… well I dunno but we were all shitty and everything was going to shit and yanno… shitty situation. I mean look around you. Looks all super nice doesn’t it. Like… this is how it works. And it actually works. And it’s fair now. We all get just enough, but not too much. And most people don’t care that this is how it works, since they are not in the business. I mean I barely am, I am just like… around it sometimes. But yanno. We get to have this,” she gestured around. “And all the shit ain’t even here, it’s up there. So what if we sell a few illegal things. It sponsors the whole thing down here yanno.”

Derek scowled.

“I wouldn’t expect an alien like you to understand. Your world is probably all shiny and hyper modern and… oh don’t give me that look, I bet you guys have your own shit. Don’t blame us for joining the bandwagon.”

“So you just sell strangers-”

“What? No dude,” she said shaking her head. But then she sniffed and frowned. “Well, I guess yea, but like… anything yanno. Whatever is good to sell. Sometimes it’s our stuff, sometimes it’s stuff we find I guess. I dunno. Useful stuff.”

Derek wasn’t sure if he was able to scowl a bit more than he already was. “You wouldn’t be so lenient, if they decided to snatch up you or your friend,” he pointed out angrily.

“Naw dude, I wish, but humans don’t got much value in the galaxy in case you didn’t notice,” she said with a hint of sadness. “People can join the auction though, but they barely get sold. Nothing usable about these weak bodies, yanno - well I guess depends. I heard a bunch of people won an auction for some dude across the universe who had some sort of a bar or some shit. We are super resistant to alcohol or... whatever he was selling.”

Derek never heard of something like that happening, not through official channels, nor through their own channels, but of course… life forms barely ever talked about this galaxy. There wasn’t really much here and what was left, humans claimed for their own after the arrival of the IA.

He should have made a better research before he went down here. He should have… wait.

“So there is a way of knowing where those sold in auction were sent to?”

She grimaced. “I see where ya going with that but… ugh well I guess, I dunno. Maybe it was just a rumor yanno.”

“But there is a way,” he repeated looking over at her.

“Well I guess it’s in the database or some shit,... but nobody is gonna give you the info no matter what you do,” she admitted, shrugging. “I guess some dudes up there on Moon know too, but you will never get to them either.”

“Can’t you find out?”

The vehicle screeched and stopped in the middle of the road. She turned to him and glared. “You listen here,” she ordered sternly and tapped her glasses. “I am not going to go against the Source Code alright? Those who go against it end up badly… nobody would willingly go against the Code, not in this System anyways. Do your illegal shittalk elsewhere.”

Derek was in loss for the words.

She nodded as if she was satisfied by his expression and then resumed the drive in silence, the light on her glasses blinking gently.

Derek didn’t speak for the rest of the ride. 

 

~o~

 

The girl got him all the way to the dock, her glasses opening up all the side-doors so they could slip in unseen. Literally unseen - at one point they were passing a family of four humans and they didn’t even blink at his attire. Weren’t he paying enough attention himself, one of the children would have run right into him.

They passed through the bracelet check without any complications as well. Just slipped through without any of the employees even sparing a look their way.

“Right, so… this is where I leave you,” she said, stopping right after they crossed the entrance to the docks. It was rather silent for an international station, but Derek paid it no attention. He had other things to think about.

He looked at the girl helplessly. “I-” he shrugged, feeling defeated by the system and somehow swept along and… just all kind of negative stuff.

“Don’t make that face,” she smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “You can keep the coat. They can pay me back. See? Everybody is taken care of in the end. Ain’t that a lovely thing.”

Derek just nodded and watched her walk back through the gate.

And since he had nowhere else to go, he headed over the platforms, following the lines on the floor. He found their shuttle not too long after. It was really hard to miss - the only IA shuttle in the whole dock after all - those things tend to stand out, even if this one was nothing fancy. 

He sat down at the base of the shuttle and waited.

 

~o~

 

“What in the name of…?”

Derek stood up so quickly the vertigo caught up with him in no time. He blinked, forcing the drowsy nap from his eyes and refocused on the Sheriff who was walking to the shuttle, followed closely by Danny and Deaton. Danny had an amused look on his face, looking up and down the bright red coat wrapped around his naked form and Deaton was… well, pretty much lifeless when it came to expressions.

“Did Stiles take you out partying?” Danny laughed.

“Where is-” The Sheriff started but the look on Derek’s face stopped him. “Where…?”

Derek gulped. “She… they… they took him,” he babbled, unable to look him in the eyes.

He had to give the Sheriff one thing, he caught up pretty quickly. “They... the Moon?”

Derek nodded. The Sheriff’s face remained without any sort of emotion. “I see.” He looked over at Danny who nodded and went ahead to prep the shuttle. Derek followed him with worried eyes.

“Are we… going to the Moon?” we wondered aloud.

“No, son… we are going back to the Beacon,” the Sheriff said, shaking his head. “Our business here is done.”

An army of skin crawlers passed over his spine. He could feel the hair on his body rising with a horrendous premonition.

“But… what about…?” he asked, his heartbeat quickening.

“The Moon chooses who it needs to choose, it’s not up to any of us to question those decisions,” the Sheriff said sternly. “We are returning back to the Beacon. Now.”

Derek couldn’t believe his ears. Was he hearing well? Was this a father that had just lost his son to the vicious charade dirtying this beautiful planet? Or was he perhaps trapped in a pod, drugged, sold, living through a horrible nightmare.

“We are on a tight schedule and the IA-”

“What about Stiles?” Derek whispered, horrified.

“Stiles has served his purpose-”

Derek took a step away from the Sheriff as if he was worried the disgusting mindset will envelop him too. 

“How can you-”

The Sheriff shook his head and beckoned to Deaton, who promptly grabbed Derek’s biceps. The hold was strong, so strong it hurt him, but it was nowhere near the pain and confusion he was feeling inside of his chest. What kind of a father would leave his son to slave-traders? What kind of a Captain…?

“We are leaving,” the Sheriff ordered, waving his hand at the opened door.

Derek shook his head. “No. No we are not. We have to-”

“Mr. Kasai may I remind you that I am your Captain and any violation of the AI codex will leave you unemployed before you can even blink,” he said, his voice reminiscent of a sharp steel shrapnel. “Not listening to my orders is such a violation. Now get into the shuttle before I strip you of your rank.”

Derek pursed his lips, but he still didn’t move. He couldn’t. How could he? He knew it was too late to save Stiles by now, but the blatant refusal to acknowledge something bad has happened made his stomach reel, made his limbs unmovable, his expression harden.

And yet.

And  _ yet. _

He couldn’t stay on the planet. Oh, how selfish was he for considering it, but what other choice did he have? The Beacon was his only escape route out of here. It was his only way out. By now, they were definitely on their way to Earth and endangered species or not, they would catch him eventually. He couldn’t let that happen. He promised Peter he wouldn’t let that happen.

And so, with a churning stomach and a sickness rising within him, he looked back at the Sheriff and saluted, following him into the shuttle like a scrabby obedient mut that he was.

 

~o~

 

Derek was sitting in the back, his elbows braced on his knees as he leaned forward and watched the floor. He couldn’t stop thinking of Stiles - where was he now and how insignificant it all seemed for the people around. Was he the only one who cared? Was this a cultural thing? Maybe Shifters really were different than the Humans. Maybe-

“All good Sheriff,” Danny said as he walked to the back of the shuttle. Derek forced his head up to look at the pilot and frowned. “We are out, Jackson will take care of the rest by remote.”

“Alright,” the Sheriff nodded. He was sitting opposite of Derek, still and stony... up until then. His schooled expression slipped and a worried look settled deep in his wrinkles.

“How did that happen? Did you take off your bracelets?” he inquired, looking at him. Derek frowned at the sudden tension in the air, but did not hesitate to answer as fast as possible “Of course not, but-”

The Sheriff cursed under his breath. “He didn’t turn them off,” he muttered. It was more of a statement than a question. “He was supposed to turn them off, so that scanners wouldn’t detect…”

“I don’t-” Derek started, but the Sheriff continued with his own tirade, paying little to no attention to him: “He didn’t… that foolish...”

“Stiles kept the Nanobots on,” Danny supplied as if Derek would need that info. He didn’t. 

“I didn’t know he can turn them off,” he said curiously. Like, of course he understood why Stiles didn’t want to turn them off on a regular basis,  _ ever _ even  - he didn’t want to end up like his mother probably? But why wouldn’t he do that if he knew… Derek’s lips thinned. He knew why of course. It was probably the same reason as he had for not wanting to change into his original form.

The Sheriff swore under his breath, but continued with his questioning. “When did they take him? Do you know the exact time? Or at least… how long ago?” He turned over to Danny. “Maybe the auction didn’t start yet? Maybe we could negotiate…”

“They took us both before the sun went down,” Derek admitted slowly. He didn’t want to reveal all of it. Just the important details. “They just... didn’t sell me.”

“I shouldn’t have allowed him to come,” the Sheriff croaked, his fingers digging into his forehead. “I shouldn’t have…”

Danny reached his hand over to him. “You didn’t know he would disregard your-”

“I should have known!” The Sheriff cut off angrily. “I should have known,” he repeated slower. “I should have.” He got up and walked to the front of the shuttle, agitated. Derek wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was different than what he was used to from the Sheriff till now. 

“Sorry about that charade down there,” Danny said out of nowhere. “We had to play it cool, the AI is everywhere back on Earth, it’s not good rebeling out in the open.”

Derek thought back on the girl who took him back to the Docks and nodded hesitantly. “I thought-”

Danny laughed. “I know full well what you thought. I could see it in your reaction.” The laughter was gone in the next instant though. “I know what it looks like to Outsiders, a ship full of humans.” He gestured between them. “No other ship in the IA has that many humans on board, not ones that come from this system at least. But that has a reason, you know, and it’s a different one that you probably had in your head till now.”

Derek wondered how much of that is true and how much is Danny’s positive attitude. Although they didn't know each other much, he had a hunch that might be it. At least to some extent. But still… could it be that he missed this one thing?

“Humans have little value to the auction, which I am sure you have noticed firsthand,” Danny said as if he was reading his thoughts. “It would be too dangerous for a valuable life form with the AI’s Source Code in effect. The Sheriff wanted to avoid… well exactly  _ this _ happening.”

“But then… the pilot?”

Danny sat down next to him and hummed. “Well, I guess that’s why Sheriff looks out for him that much. You know that Whittemorians are a delicacy on Mandoria?”

Derek nodded dumbly.

“Well… there is definitely a Mandorian or two looking for a nice meal in that auction. There are all kinds of people… sorry, life forms, there.”

It was starting to dawn on him. He looked to the front of the shuttle, skimmed the sagged shoulders of the Sheriff who was standing with his back to him and… he couldn’t actually believe he didn’t consider there being a reason behind his actions. Other than the obvious one of course. 

Still...

“But then… the whole… Stiles situation…,” he asked, without actually asking.

“Well, Stiles is… Stiles,” Danny shrugged. “Like… I don’t know, okay? I get what you mean… this whole bullying situation on the ship, but… he is kinda in fault too, he is a very… antagonizing individual. Rules are a bit...”

Derek frowned at him and Danny put up his hands in defence. “I didn’t mean to…” He sighed. “Yeah okay, relationships are hard, man. I don’t know… I don’t move in those circles much you know. I keep to the Docks and out in the open. Like I guess? But I don’t know what’s going on most of the time. I guess you’re right… it is a situation and the Sheriff is probably unsure how to solve it, I guess. Stiles is his son, yet he needs to remain objective. Like I said, I don’t actually know what’s going on, but you are right, there is something going on.”

Derek wasn’t sure what to say to that, so as per his personal rule, he didn’t say anything. This wasn’t really important at that moment anyways.

“But he cares.” Danny added confidently. “He cares about his crew and that’s what’s important. That’s what’s going to get Stiles back, believe me.”

He honestly didn’t know if that will be enough in this situation, but he didn’t have to react because that was when the shuttle shuddered as the stabilisers turned off. They have reached the Docks on the Beacon.

The Sheriff walked back and beckoned them to follow. “Called an emergency meeting at the bridge. Let’s go.”


	9. Chapter 9

 

Contrary to the popular belief there was no huge window pointing out into the vast space on the Bridge. In fact it resembled more the assembly they had back at the Root - with more screens and more stations, but overall - the general feel of a stuffed can floating in space with just a few sensors to see through would be a rather fitting description.

The Captain’s station was a regular set-up with a table and three screens, standing above the rest on a smaller rise at the back of the Bridge. It was the first thing one saw when entering the cabin - the back of the Captain commanding  rows and rows of smaller set-ups in front of him. 

Derek would have compared it to a human class. If he knew what a class looked like, anyways. 

That of course meant that the rest of the crew was working with their backs to the actual big screen at the front of the cabin. Now having the crew facing the Captain and out of the view of the huge screen had its merits - at least that’s what the IA experts said - for one, they weren’t distracted by whatever was going on in the space around them. They handled the stress better and they were more prone to just sit on their bloody asses and concentrate on their own particular task. 

Derek personally thought that was a bit of… well a tad more than the usual bullshit, but that was just his opinion. It might have had something to do with the fact that Peter’s ship was a four-member crewer steered by just the two of them and they both trusted each other not to get distracted in dangerous situations… but of course, the IA took in all kinds of people and most of them would obviously get distracted by giant screens in front of them. That... actually didn’t speak well for the IA, but whatever.

Now, Derek didn’t actually have any time to contemplate any of this, because the moment they walked in, they headed to the row with most of the Bridgers standing around and the Sheriff asked him to recap what had happened after they were taken. Which he did… in less detail than was needed, but the basics were there - they jumped them in the reservoir, took them to a shuttle, flied them to the Moon, then there was an auction and Derek was disqualified right after they sold Stiles to who-knew-who. And that was basically it - they just flew him back and dropped him off at the same place where they took him and the girl led him back to the Docks.

Jackson smirked up at him, his tongue flitting out of his mouth and he went up and down his body. “What’ssss up with the whole…get-up? What exactly were you doing in that reservoir with Ssssstilinski?”

Derek wanted to growl and rip his face off with his own bare hands for even trying to make fun of the whole situation, but luckily the Coach was faster. “I would recommend you hold your tongue if you have nothing productive to say. This is a serious matter, boy.”

“Juust saying,” he snorted, shrugging. Nobody looked amused, not even Lydia. Maybe only the man standing next to him in whom Derek recognized the “Nourish” guy. 

Jackson continued: “I mean I wasn’t the one who went down there promenading valuable alien features for all of them to see.”

“Be so kind and shut up, boy,” the Coach said, scoffing in his his direction. “Save that for when I ain’t around.”

“Agreed,” Boyd muttered almost soundlessly. Derek shared a grateful look with him. Not that  _ that _ shut the Whittemorian up: “Why all this fusssss anyways? I-”

The Sheriff pushed himself from the back of the table set-up and turned to face him. “That’s enough. Stiles is a crew member of the Beacon and you will not question the reasons behind this emergency briefing. You know I don’t tolerate unequal treatment on this ship. Were it you on the Moon we would be holding the same exact briefing now, discussing how to get you back, so either participate or you will be dismissed.”

There was a hissing sound but Lydia hummed under her breath and it stopped. His tail lowered down and he nodded - which looked a bit weird on a Whittemorian since they didn’t usually nod. This one though, seemed more human than lizard… it was all posturing with him, Derek realized, but the vicious grandior his species possessed was not present.

“Now,” the Sheriff started, looking over at the only female in their group. “What’s the status on your side Lydia?”

She raised her wrist to bring up her holo and scrolled through the list. Clicking on a line, she shook her head. “I contacted the authorities back on Earth to see if there is anything to be done via the official channels. Sometimes it happens that an auction can be at least reopened if given terms are met-”

“And?” the Sheriff interrupted eagerly.

“Well, they can’t do anything about Stiles’ auction sadly.” 

That didn’t really surprise Derek considering how the girl back on Earth was viewing the whole Moon business. If that went for each Earth-based human then… well it was still stupid, but that’s apparently how things went down there. Selfish human bastards.

“Why not?” the Sheriff asked.

She squinted at the holo in front of her. “The buyer apparently paid extra for a non-negotiable deal.”

“Probably saw the uniform,” Boyd said nodding.

“Could be,” she answered, shrugging.

“We can double the price maybe or something?” said a man standing next to the Coach. Derek never saw him before, but judging by the color of his uniform he must be working on the Bridge too. “Ya know outpay the buyer or-”

The “Nourish” guy, a stern-looking man with glasses scoffed. “Like how do you propose we get such money, Parish? It’s not like we can sell the ship and I doubt anybody would-”

“Then how do we get him back?” the Sheriff asked, his voice rising over the man’s voice. “Any ideas?” He looked around them. “Any at all? There must be a way.”

A few heartbeats filled with silence were suddenly interrupted by Boyd. “Can’t we hack the system to find out where they’ve sent Stiles?”

All eyes shifted over to Danny, who was standing around rather awkwardly. Well all but for Derek’s. 

“Dude,” Danny whined, rolling his eyes. “That was years ago, alright? And it’s sealed, so I don’t know how you know about it, but no… no. Like even if I were up for it... hacking  _ her _ ? That’s a whole new level of impossible.”

“Any friends of yours willing to take the job?” asked the man standing next to the Coach. There was something in his features that reminded Derek of Stiles for some reason - maybe his light-colored eyes. Parrish, they said?

“I haven’t been in touch with any of them for years,” Danny said, folding his arms over his chest. “Even if I was, nobody is suicidal enough to hack  _ her _ . Even if someone was skilled enough, she would find out for sure. And you know what she does to those who break the Source Code.”

A pregnant silence fell over the cabin. Derek was glad for it. He didn’t want to know what’s the worst thing the AI could do given the chance..

Still, Deaton probably didn’t care about how the atmosphere turned, because he spoke up as if the conversation didn't break into pieces just a few moments ago: “I humbly propose to report back to the IA and-”

The Sheriff nodded. “I can ask a few IA friends….” But even having said that he still looked a bit clueless as to that to do.

“Anything else?” he asked looking up at each of them respectively. People shook their heads, Jackson hissed and Derek… well, he didn’t say anything. He had his own wheels turning inside his skull. But those he couldn’t really share. Not in front of all of them anyways.

 

~o~

 

“How did it go?” Was the first thing Erica asked when they entered the Root. Well actually she jumped right off the seat and bombarded them with all kinds of questions, but this was the one Derek’s brain registered first.

Honestly, he had no answer for her.

“Just connected the Sheriff to the official IA channels,” she recapped, pointing at Isaac who was typing behind Boyd’s station. “Is there anything else we can do?”

Boyd shook his head. “It’s quite the dead-end, I’m afraid.”

Erica didn’t look all too happy about that. “Then how are we gonna get him back?” 

Boyd looked over at him and then back at her, a hopeless look painting his features. “We have to wait for what the Sheriff finds out,” he decided to say in the end. It was a rather general answer.

“Is there nothing else?” She scowled. “There must be something. We can’t just sit around doing nothing, while they…” \She left the end hanging in the artificial air, the truth of the situation veiled behind her silence. Derek didn’t want to think of where Stiles might be at that moment - probably in a stasis in that fucking pod - living, breathing, feeling, but frozen until the pod opens to a whole new kind of hell.

“Did they ask Danny to-”

“Yes, they did, but he doesn’t know anybody who would be willing to-” Derek did though, didn’t he.  _ Didn’t he? _

Isaac sighed. “Honestly, nobody is that good. Or crazy for that matter.”

_ Oh, but Peter surely is,  _ thought Derek bitterly. Was it worth to blow his cover even more than he already did? If he was any sort of rational and selfish, he would have left it all at that, happy that the only life form who saw his real form from this vessel was out of the picture. But he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t that sort of a  _ person _ … not because he was parading a human body to fool everybody, but because… he couldn’t just let somebody behind. Not again. 

He looked down at the floor, his brain full of oxymorons. Should he do something or should he keep hiding? He came here to hide, he came here to stay undercover and mere cycles later, he has not only broadcasted his whereabouts to the whole outer community, but also led Stiles into danger.

Somewhere out there are  _ his  _ enemies, searching for him, probably heading this way already. And if he won’t be careful, they will find him and not even an IA flagship will stop them.

He needed to lay low… he needed t o- there were many things he needed to maintain, but was he really willing to trade another life form’s freedom for that?  _ Shit. _ Stiles wasn’t his kin, he wasn’t his blood, his pack… and yet. And yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to do something. Something  _ more  _ still. 

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Erica said. “Not to any of us. The Beacon was supposed to be the safest thing there is in this whole system for aliens. We were supposed to be off-limits. Stiles was supposed to be-”

Boyd folded his arms over his chest. “That’s true, but Stiles wasn’t really careful. And now...”

“Still,” she muttered. “He doesn’t deserve to be left behind.” She shook his head. “This isn’t right, Vernon.” She sniffed, tears spilling from her eyes. “He wrote up my treatment under his Nano health insurance… if he didn’t I…”

“I know,” Boyd said, reaching over to put his hand on her shoulder. “I know, but…”

“We have to help him somehow,” she said, crying. Before more snot could spill out from her nose, she retracted her arm from the sleeve and her bare hand appeared behind her visor, wiping at her face.

“Is there nothing we can do?” she asked when her face was cleaner.

Boyd’s lips thinned and he looked over at Derek. “You were there when they sold him and I know you probably already wrecked your brain a dozen times… but was there something that might help us? Something you heard? Maybe saw?

“You were on the Moon?” Isaac asked horrified. “Like actually-”

Derek nodded, slightly self-conscious. It’s not like that was an achievement. It would have been if they had escaped from them before anything bad could have happened. That was probably the one thing that would have saved them and Derek will regret for a long time that he just didn’t grab Stiles’ hand and didn’t run for it when he first honed in on the Snatchers behind those trees. Damn trees. Damn nostalgia.

“They snatched us both for the auction,” he admitted. “Didn’t sell me though.”

“Oh gosh,” Isaac breathed.

“Yeah, I… I tried to get him out, but…” He shrugged, words stuck in his throat. He could still feel the stunners on him, the electricity piercing through his body. “I got to the pod where they were keeping him, but they pulled me out before I could even...”

“What the fuck, dude,” Isaac breathed, watching him. “Like I wouldn't even be able to-”

Erica walked to him and gave him a very awkward side-hug. Or well… it was awkward for Derek because he wasn’t sure what to do when she circled his torso and trapped his arms, but still. It was a sort-of nice gesture.

“I’m fine,” he said dumbly. He looked over at Boyd, feeling a little helpless, but he just gave him a shrug and a smile back.

“Glad you are,” Erica said sniffling.

Isaac snorted. “Being human has its perks after all.”

“Myeah, still...”

Erica finally let go of him, retracting her hand once again to take care of the tears and mucus expelling from her face.

“They didn’t hurt you though, did they?” She asked then, which… okay, she was actually the first person who wondered about that. It was oddly nice.

“I’m fine,” he repeated.

“Good good,” Isaac said. “Now can we address the elephant in the room?”  _ The.. what? _ “What’s up with that coat?”  _ Oh. _

Derek looked down. Right, he was still just covered in that bright red garment the girl gave him. “My uniform got messed up,” he admitted.

“But you are fine,” Isaac stated, Derek nodded.

“But your uniform was messed up beyond a usable limit,” he added, looking at him. Derek nodded again.

Isaac took a deep breath in and shrugged, turning back to the screen to input a few things into the opened log.

“Any news?” Boyd asked.

“Judging by how short the calls were… but let’s see.” Isaac typed in the command and the logs opened up with the automatically transcribed text. They all moved closed to the screen, skimming through the words. “Doesn’t look like-”

Erica sniffled again.

Boyd sighed.

It was hopeless.

Shit.  _ Shit. _

Derek gulped. His throat was dry. His heart was beating erratically in his chest. He had to risk it. He had to. If there was nothing else to save Stiles, then there was no other choice. He wouldn’t be better than the ones hunting him if he didn’t.  _ Shit. Okay. _

“I know a guy,” he heard himself say with a shaky voice. He steeled himself. “But I would need a black-out line to get in touch with him.”

They all looked at him with various stages of curiousness and suspicion. Boyd straightened up, a thoughtful expression on his face. “So… you want me to authorise a shielded, clipped, no-trace, no-log, no-anything, one-way channel for a person who didn’t even pas the trial period yet?”

“Well…” Derek shook his head, laughing helplessly. He waved his hand in the direction of the screen logs. 

“I could get suspended for such a thing,” Boyd informed him sternly. “All of us could.”

“I know,” Derek said nodding. 

“Are you sure this person can get us the info?” Isaac asked.

“Yes.”

“100% sure?” Erica questioned.

Derek nodded again.

Erica and Isaac looked over at their leader and after a short contemplation gave a short nod.

Boyd took a deep breath in and then nodded as well. “Alright then. Let’s do this.”

 

~o~

 

Derek was sitting in his cabin, the holo in front of him showing an establishing connection. He was all alone, just as  requested, the Root team back at the station setting up all the needed configurations. 

Derek himself still didn’t exactly believe they have let him do this. But obviously desperate times call for desperate measures and well… these were such times.

The holo blinked and Peter’s stern face appeared on it. His human features were put together in their usual way - there was a certain shape he always went for, one that reminded Derek of his mother a bit too much. But of course, as per custom he did the same with his own, so... 

“Twenty nine, five, ninety six,” Peter said.

Derek knew exactly what the suited answer to this code was. “Eleven, six, ninety,” he muttered.

Peter’s face relaxed a bit and he nodded in acknowledgement. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked. “I wouldn’t have expected a black-out line from you. Not while on the IA vessel anyways..”

“I need your help,” Derek admitted.

Peter squinted, as if trying to see who else is there with him. Though by default a black-out like is as shielded as it can get, he was still paranoid about it. But who wouldn’t be. It shouldn’t even be possible to set-up one on a IA vessel.

“Who is covering for you?” Peter asked, following his thoughts to the last letter. “The Captain? What did you tell him?”

“Nothing. Nobody knows anything,” he said.  _ Except maybe for Stiles _ , his mind supplied, but he wasn’t about to say that aloud. “The Rooters set this up for me.”

Peter waited for a proper explanation. He wasn’t the type to beat around the bush.

“We’re docking at the Earth,” he supplied as if that were to explain everything. He wanted to add more, but Peter interrupted him, always ready to display his set of knowledge.

“The Solar system giving you trouble already? The Earth is no trouble for an endangered species like us, so…” he squinted his eyes. “It’s somebody else, isn’t it?”

Derek confirmed his words with a curt nod. “The head of the Technical station here. A Nano Hybrid. We went down to the Earth, got snatched, they let me go, but the Hybrid was sold in the auction on the Moon.”

Peter nodded, waiting for him to get to the point.

“We need to find him. Find where he was sent  _ to _ at least and there is nobody willing to get us the information… to hack the system for it.”

“And for a good reason,” Peter said, chuckling. “Of course if _I_ wanted to,... but the question remains, dear nephew, why would I take on such a risk?”

Derek’s lips thinned. He was ready for the question, but he still couldn’t bring himself to admit the actual truth why… he could be actually projecting a bit. He was unable to save their pack, he was the cause of their doom and he let it all happen. And now… he couldn’t let that happen again… not anymore. It was ripping up something inside of him just to think he would just ignore Stiles in the time of need. Just leave him behind for his own selfish reasons… just… no.

Peter must have seen something on his face because he sneered. “Why would you risk calling me from an IA vesel, Derek? Could it be you’ve already found a mate? You were always so susceptible.”

That stung. But it was necessary of course.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Peter rolled his eyes. “Oh so a guilt-trip, isn’t it? We’ve had this conversation before and as far as I remember the logic always overruled your reasoning, so-”

It was time to bring out the big guns, it would seem. The only thing that could actually work on Peter was a way to get closer to his revenge after all. And Derek had that.

“They scanned me at the auction,” he started. “There were hundreds of recipients, all of them got the info and all of them bid for me.”

Peter’s eyes got that sort of a maniacal gleam they always got when the conversation slipped to this sort of thing. “And you think…?

“It’s a possibility at least,” he admitted.

Peters smile was wide and full of sharp teeth.

“And since you will be already there,” Derek continued. “You might as well check out the coordinates to which the Nano Hybrid got sent to.”

Peter wasn’t really listening to him anymore, his eyes got slightly unfocused as if already planning what he will do next.

“Peter,” Derek spoke up. His uncle blinked and looked over at him, his eyes were gleaming red and Derek's responded in their own color.

“You are playing the bait now, Derek,” Peter said out of nowhere. “Be careful.”

“The coordinates.”

“Don’t let them find you,” Peter continued. The same old song.

“They won’t,” he said, shaking his head. “The coordinates, don’t forget.”

Peter blinked, the glow was gone. And so was the blue glint in Derek’s.

“I will send them to you,” his uncle promised and then his face was gone and the black-out line folded in on itself, eating itself up like a hungry ouroboros, all the data lost.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, this chapter doesn't have a picture yet, any ideas? Throw them at me down in the comments if you want :) We did this back in chapter 4 and it was such fun! Looking forward already and as always, thanks for all the support!
> 
> EDIT: A huge thanks to @different_isgood57 and @stormtomcat for their art suggestions! Now, what you two had in common was for me to draw some of the characters, that we didn't get to see on the title pics yet. So I decided to just draw a sort-of character sheet of the Beacon's crew :) :) 
> 
> __________

 

Sheriff squinted at Boyd, but no matter how much disbelief he tried to convey with that look, the coordinances on his holo remained solidly embedded in the screen.

“How did you get this?” he asked for the second time. He didn’t get an answer the first time, Boyd’s silence coating the cabin in a thick layer, and he wouldn’t get an answer now either. The Rooter remained silent.

“Boyd. How?” he repeated, shaking his holo. He looked around the cabin, his eyes stopping at each of them, searching, wondering. Nobody said anything.

“How?”

Coach spoke up: “From a Source willing to hack the AI, obviously.”

“There is no log about the Root contacting anybody though,” Lydia pointed out as she scrolled through her own holo.

“And we all know what _that_ meanssss,” Jackson said, leering at Boyd and Derek.

The Sheriff bore his eyes into Boyd again, his eyebrows pulling together. “A black-out line… you know full well creating a connection like that is against the IA constitution..”

“As are many things on this ship,” Boyd answered. “And yet, here we are.” Nobody opposed that statement, not even the Sheriff. Instead he just pursed his lips, sighed and looked back down at his holo.

“Is this legit?” he asked after a while.

“I can’t exactly confirm that,” Boyd answered carefully.

“But I can,” Derek joined in. “At least superficially. The logs check out with the timeline of our abduction to the point.” Lucky for him Peter obviously scraped any mentions of Derek or any other mentions as to what he was up to on the Moon. It would have been a rather unfortunate thing if the Sheriff would see something about his Shifter abilities, especially since he still takes Derek for a human.

The Sheriff nodded and turned to the navigator. “Parrish, check the coordinates.” They put their holos together and copied the needed information.

Derek already suspected they are not going to find anything in the official IA logs, but maybe the navigator was resourceful enough to find out what it was without Derek supplying Peter’s additional information. He decided to remain silent for now. It wouldn’t do much good if he appeared too knowledgeable.

“Alright, so a plan,” the Sheriff started, pacing around while they waited. “The Beacon will continue on on the official route and I-”

“You can not leave the ship now,” Lydia cut in. “You are required to stay on the ship during a Solar, remember? Standart IA procedure.”

The Sheriff dismissed her almost immediately. “I don’t care.

Lydia scowled. “But I do. We all do. None of us wants to lose our Captain. Without you in command-”

“I have to-”

“You don’t.”

Boyd lifted his hand, but Lydia stopped him before he could even start. “The chief Rooter? I don’t think so.”

“I was just gonna say-”

“The skeleton crew needs to be present during a Solar. We can not perform the maneuver then and how else are we gonna power the ship?” Lydia scoffed. “It’s bad enough we are missing the Technical at this point of-”

“Issue an official request to Earth. We will need a substitute for the time being,” the Sheriff said. It might have seemed heartless to ask for somebody to fill in the spot this fast, but if a Solar was really this close, there was really no other option, Derek knew. Also, it would seem rather suspicious if he didn’t, did it?

Sheriff was obviously thinking somewhere around the same lines. “It will be less suspicious if we fill in the position right away.”

“What if Stiles…?” Parrish left the questions hanging in the air.

Lydia was the first one to answer. “Nothing. The AI is only responsible for the goods up until the delivery is signed off. Once Stiles’ pod arrives at its destination…”

“He is free to be stolen back,” Parrish grinned from behind his holo.

“Good to know, so-”

“What about me?” Derek spoke up out of nowhere. Not even his own brain knew we was gonna suggest such an atrocity.

It wasn’t for Stiles though. Surely not. Peter told him to stay safe and the Hunters were probably on their way to the Earth and if he’d had remained on the Beacon there was a chance they would find him too fast. They saw his uniform, they knew. He needed to get as far away from this system as possible, at least for now - that seemed like a solid enough reason, right? That fact that he had to backtrack to find a it after he actually said it all was secondary.

They were all staring at him. He looked over at the Sheriff.

“I can’t ask that of you, son,” he shook his head. “You have nothing to feel guilty for.” He looked over at the navigator who was still tapping away at the holo, but Derek couldn’t just let him dismiss his intentions now. Not when he actually had a secret agenda to fill.

“You need somebody who knows their way around the Outer Space,” he said sternly. “With military training, at best.” His personal logs stated he was from a military family of IA officers or various ranges. Good. “Someone who is not part of the skeleton crew because of the scheduled Solar?” _And someone good enough to get in and out without people knowing, with needed connections_ , _with experience in the dark areas of the Space_ , his mind added. “Who better than me?”

“I agree,” Coach said, nodding. “He would be a good choice.”

Boyd put his hand down. He was holding it up all this time. “I was gonna suggest that,” he said, scowling Lydia’s way. “We can function without him still, even through a Solar. I can keep his logs going. Nobody will know.”

The “Nourish” man next to Parrish didn’t look very happy about their plan. “That’s against-”

The Coach scoffed. “Shut it, Harris.”

“I beg to-”

The Sheriff shut them both off with a wave of his hand. “Parrish, any info on the location?” The navigator just shook his head and continued his tapping. Derek already knew he was not going to find anything official about it.

Good, he needed to prove a point, after all, so why not just share what he already knew.

“It’s a research station,” he said. They all turned back to him with various stages of surprise and suspicion written all over their faces. Except Deaton, that was.

“How would you know that?” the Sheriff wondered aloud.

“I came across it in-”

Parrish sighed. “It’s not in the IA database, nor in any other official-”

“And you know itss?” Jackson hissed out of nowhere, emerging from behind his table. He was sitting there, ignoring them for the most part. “Now if that ain’t sussssspisciousss.” The last word was barely understandable through all that hissing.

The Sheriff seemed to be ignoring the suspicion for then though. “What kind of a research station?”

“The illegal kind,” Derek said, trying to not dig his own grave with sharing too much. He only came across their _products_ in his earlier days of space travel, never their homebase.

Yes, the coordinates were something the IA would and did kill for, but he wasn’t gonna bring the whole IA down on the station and risk Stiles… wait, back to the present, Jackson was asking something.

“I ssssaid where do you know ssssuch thingsss from?”

Harris joined him in his suspicion. “I would be curious to know that as well.”

“Is this _really_ the time?” Boyd asked, annoyance hearable in his tone. “I would say we got more import-

“Shhhhut it, thisss Outsider-”

“Jackson-”

The Whittemorian hissed and started to advance on Derek. Not that that was gonna intimidate him, but he still watched his tail just in case.

“Enough!” the Sheriff yelled. Lydia grabbed Jackson and pulled him to the edge of their loose circle again.

“Now,” the Sheriff continued. “We can talk about all of this after we get Stiles back. If Derek is right, we don’t have any time to lose. A Nano at a research station-” He didn’t finish and he didn’t have to. They all understood the implication.

“Sheriff, if I might have a suggestion,” Deaton said, unfazed by the heavy silence. “My sister would be a perfect candidate for this mission. She was out of commission for way too long and you promised-”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the Sheriff said, ballantly refusing whatever was about to be said. “You know the risks of her leaving this system...!”

Deaton showed no signs of understanding the refusal. “She needs an outlet every once in a while. One that would restart her System. When you took us in, you guaranteed our purpose will be regularly fulfilled to avoid malfunction.”

“Not like this…”

“Exactly like this,” Deaton said. “My sister had been dormant for way too long.”

Derek felt more of an outsider in this conversation than ever before. It was surprising enough that this old android version was even working on an IA ship, but one android calling the other out on family ties was something he had never heard of. Did those two live with humans so long, that they took it up on their own or was there some sort of a reprogramming involved? He wasn’t about to ask, but it was still a curious thing to witness first-hand.

“The risk is too big,” the Sheriff continued. “This far out of our system, this far from the Beacon. If she is noticed-”

Deaton nodded stiffly. “They will scrape her without a second thought, but without this mission, she _will_ wither away. Her processes will loop and she won’t be functional anymore. It’s better for her to-”

“Deaton, we talked about this, I will find a mission for her as soon as-”

“This mission, John. This one.” The words came out almost as resolutely as when an engine explodes. There wasn’t really any room left for negotiation. Derek wasn’t sure if it was the usage of the Sheriff’s given name or anything else… but in the end, the Sheriff just nodded.

“Danny should go with them. They will need a reliable pilot,” the Coach added and with that their tiny extracting team was formed and hurled out into space on a potentially dangerous mission.

Well, it was always better for Derek to be moving away from the approaching Hunters than towards them, so he wasn’t exactly complaining. The fact that he was able to tie it together with rescuing Stiles was a nice bonus. And just a bonus it was, his mind supplied, _nothing else_.

 

~o~

 

“Morrell,” Danny said as he joined them in the back of the shuttle. It was right after the stabilisers kicked in and they were propelled in the direction out of the system - in a totally different direction the Beacon was heading out to.

“Marin Morrell,” Danny repeated a bit louder. Up until then her body was sitting on the bench, unmoving, deep in hibernation. Not anymore though. She moved stiffly. Opened her eyes. Derek could hear her wheels turning, but the movement seemed to freeze every once in a while for a brief heartbeat.

“Mission update,” she croaked, her voice more of a recording than a human imitation.

“We have left the Beacon, T plus twenty minutes. The plan is to meet with a buddy of mine near Mars within a circle.” He brought up his holo, showing them a travel map of the known space. “He will pin us through a few tunnels to all the way here.” He pointed to a blue dot on the map, which was coincidentally somewhere near the Whittemorian territories and also nowhere near the facility that bought Stiles. But that was alright. That was how space-travel worked after all. Sometimes going further out brought you closer to your destination than flying straight at it.

Danny pointed to the red dot few galaxies away. “Jackson will get us a pin from there to somewhere near the asteroid. There is no plan after that. It will be our job to figure it out while we fly.”

“Understood,” Morrell said. Derek was expecting at least a nod, but her body was as if carved into a stone. It conveyed nothing. She really had been out of commision for far too long, it seemed.

Danny stood up. “Alright so, who is up for the first solitary this circle?” he asked. “If you don’t mind I will gladly volunteer myself, since I haven’t had any time for myself ever since we left the Beacon for Earth.”

Derek nodded and moved to the front of the shuttle, sitting down at the pilot’s seat. A cursory look at the control panel told him that it was set on an autopilot. Good.

The chair next to him creaked. Morrell sat down into it staring ahead at the wall. Well, technically there was a holo screen, but it was dark at that moment so she might’ve as well been staring into a wall.

The connecting door shut close and a blue light flashed on the pad next to it. “Commencing a solitary,” the shuttle’s interface said automatically.

Derek thought he might as well get some rest while he could. Morrell didn’t seem like much of  talker anyways. And he still had to wait for his own solitary session to perform his needed rituals. At least his ribs didn’t ache anymore. Small victories. Bigger ones to come though, he hoped.

 _We’re coming, Stiles_.

 

~o~

 

“Eyyy, Danny boy,” came from the speakers when the pinner intercepted them near Mars. The holo at the front broadcasted a red planet and an approaching small spacecraft used for long-distance pins. There wasn’t really much to say about it. It looked freelance. Obviously. The IA wouldn’t condone this sort of operation, so freelancers were their only way.

“Rogh, hi,” Danny said, flipping a few switches. “Commencing pin-up.” The sensors beeped and the shuttle’s thrusters hissed on their sides.

The pilot on the other side laughed. “Is that all I’m gonna get?” The pinner started to slowly maneuver closer to them. “And I thought I gave you such a nice-”

“This is not a private line, if I might add.”

That information didn’t stop Rogh though. “Blowjob, I gave you such a nice, long blowjob the last time we saw each other.”

Derek kept his eyes glued to the holo, but he could feel Danny’s eyes on him, expecting some sort of a reaction. He wouldn’t get any from Derek though. He had other things on his mind.

“You dumbass,” Danny muttered into the microphone, as he grabbed the steering rod and corrected their trajectory. Rogh continued on with his own tirade despite of it all: “Well, it would have been long, but I was just too good for you to last, so…  maybe next time?”

Danny glanced over at Derek one more time and this time Derek decided to return the look. Not because he was intrigued by the conversation, honestly it was nothing weird on freelance ships to get into some sort of an intimate talk even through general channels… the reason he looked over was because he was worried Danny might be flustered enough to mess up their pin-up.

“Sorry about that,” Danny mouthed, his hand steady.

Derek just shrugged and turned back to the holo. The pinner just lined up with their shuttle and pinned them in. The side holo blinked green and a few more buttons followed in a slow progression.

“Pin-up successful,” Danny said, typing in a few settings for their impending flight.

“Feels great to have you back in my asshole again, Danny-o,” the pilot laughed. “Kick in some drugs and enjoy the ride. T minus two minutes.”

Danny sighed an turned to Derek again. “I am really sorry about… that.” He gestured at the speakers. “It’s not like we’re… uh, it was a long time ago in fact, so…”

There wasn’t really much for Derek to say to that. He was too busy making a show of pressing his finger against the slot in the middle of the control panel. He held his breath, forcing his middle finger to grow out a bit, making the new tip internally looped in on itself. Superficially you would only be able to notice it if you compared the lengths of his fingers..

He pressed the new finger pad against the slot and the needle sprung up automatically, inserting a drug into his system. But of course, the drug didn’t get far and remained contained in the organic space he had created.

It’s not like the drug would do anything bad to him. It would just do the same as to any normal human - numb him, send him off to a REM sleep for the length of the flight through the vortex. Not that that’s actually a bad thing. He just preferred to be alert even during the flight… just in case.

Danny followed right after him, scrunching his face as the needle made contact. He then leaned back in his seat and relaxed.

“See you on the other side,” he said.

“Don’t worry, I will get you through safely,” the pinner said. “This ain’t my first rodeo.”

Derek leaned back in his own seat and waited until Danny went slack next to him. He then shifted his insides just by a tiny fraction - he sucked out the endolymph his cupula was bathed in, so that his body wouldn’t detect any of his movement in space and cut down all sensory functions to a big enough level so that the vortex wouldn’t influence him anymore. If Shifters knew something well, then it was to adapt to any environment, even the vortex.

“T minus three seconds,” he heard from the speakers.

Derek was ready. He set on monitoring the control panel.

“Two, one….”

 

~o~

 

They didn’t exactly have a plan on how to infiltrate the so-called research facility, but some ideas did come up after Rohg left them to their own devices.

“An infiltration plan is not in order before we collect all the needed data on the facility,” Morrell informed them. She seemed in a lot better state than before. Faster. Her systems were slowly rebooting her to her full performance capacity it would seem. Good, they would need all the help they could get.

Danny agreed. “We will not be able to land directly on the asteroid, I presume.”

“Indeed, not if this is an illegal location,” Morrell said. She brought up her wrist and a holo jumped out of it. “I propose we land on the main dock of this planet here, it’s the closest possible restock place for the facility. The probability of shuttles moving to and fro is very high.”

“I agree,,” Derek said. He was letting her speak for now. For as long as she was making sense, it was better to let he be the creator of their plan - he didn’t want to stand out too much. His field experience wasn’t supposed to be that high.

“Upon landing, we shall move among the locals and survey the situation in pure anonymity,” she continued. “Once we get all the information needed, we will confer and decide on the next course of action.”

“I’ll see if I can hack something,” Danny added. “Won’t we be instantly suspicious though? Being humans and all?”

Derek shook his head. “Race is not really something Outsiders pay much attention to.” It would be different when it came to certain individuals, but he decided to not speak about that right then. It was too close to home.

“Yeah, but still. Wouldn’t wanna blow our cover before we can even-”

Derek wondered why he even bothered trying to explain the mentality of the rest of the universe to a human. It’s not like humans could understand it, not if what he saw on Beacon was worth generalizing. Instead of continuing on with the topic, he decided to switch to a more dire matter.

“What was the prognosis on Stiles’s pod?” he asked. “Wasn’t it supposed to be there by now? Is it really a good idea to wait it up for too long?”

Morrell’s eyes whirled in his direction. “Any reckless course of action due to the possible time pressure is unacceptable. If-”

“He’s just worried,” Danny cut in, dismissing her. “It is a valid question though, isn’t it?”

“There will be no approval of a possible strategy before we will collect the needed-

A beep from the front of the shuttle alerted them to the Whittemorian pinner nearing them and thus the rest of the conversation was postponed in favor of another vortex ride.

 

~o~

 

“I would take a Solitary before we land. And hour, you’ve said?”

Danny nodded. “Just about enough time for it, I’d reckon.”

Derek nodded back and waited for Morrell to vacate the back of the ship.

He was just about to close the door, when Danny turned in his seat. “Hey, if… you want anything fun just log into the shuttle. There’s a… uh a library with... basically _anything_.”

Derek squinted, staring back at him. “Thank you, but I won’t be needing any of that,” he decided to answer. Honesty worked fine with the crew till then.

Danny’s face reddened and he turned back to the holo hastily. “Sure, I was just...uh, ya know.”

Derek didn’t really know, but he didn’t bother wasting more of the time he had left and closed the door. It locked behind him, the solitary lock triggered automatically. It wouldn’t open unless the shuttle was under code red. Derek could perform his ritual in peace and without a worry that his team might walk in on him. Sometimes the IA rules actually did make sense.

~o~

 

“Remember not to engage directly. The objective of this airing is to collect as much information as we can to use for a bulletproof plan, understood?” Morrell said as they landed at the small planet the asteroid was the nearest to.

They both nodded to her words. Derek nodded despite not agreeing with her strategy wholeheartedly. It wasn’t like the strategy was faulty or something, he just wished there was a more direct route to Stiles. One that involved getting him out of the place right then and there.

Life wasn’t that kind though.

They exited the shuttle and split up. Danny stayed at the Docks - there was a great deal of information one could get from pilots that were just loitering around and waiting for their crew or passengers. Not to mention if he would be sneaky enough he could get into some dock panels and hack a little.

Morrell and Derek walked through the double-reinforced passage and headed for the trading center to look around for a bit - pretending to be shopping for a restock, but also secretly fishing for anything that could help them further.

This planet, it would seem, had no breathable air on its surface since all the facilities were locked down under heavy domes and tight corridors, which pretty much went for the majority of the settlements around the universe - breathable atmosphere was not easy to come by unless one had the right technology or right conditions. And those were rare and valuable.

The dome with the market was connected right to the docks, so they didn’t have to walk too far out. The sound of multi-language chattering enveloped them right when they stepped in through the passage.

“Split,” Morrell instructed and he nodded, going to the right. He weaved out of her sight quickly enough, disappearing behind a swarm of Ethers. Their gasses were thick and condensed - his sense of smell was overwhelmed by the anisole all around him, which wasn’t actually that bad - it would seem these Ethers were actually a very polite bunch. As opposed to being poisonous and flammable - not a very good combo when residing under a dome, he reckoned.

Derek followed their pattern for a bit, hidden in their fumes and listened in on the surrounding conversations, most of which were in SLA, the artificial standart for the whole IA. When it came to native languages - with some he was able to distinguish the topics himself - thanks to Peter and his persistent teachings, but with others he needed to relay on his incognito holo feeding him translated bits and pieces. It worked well enough… expect the holo’s hearing sense did not reach as far as Derek’s.

Still. Better than nothing.

He got lost in the sea of sounds.

“I say we get the cheaper one-”

“...insult me again-”

“Do you have some-”

“...tools, tools, tools...”

“-iece of sssshi-”

“Let’s fuck after-”

“...hungry…”

“... how much?”

“...blood fieldssss…”

“My eggs-”

Nothing that stood up to him in a specific way. Mostly just the usual market banter.

Derek looked around, thinking. He caught a glimpse of Morrell who was already chatting up a guy with an opiate stall. She was kicking in a glass of liquid, laughing. One wouldn’t even think to compare her to the half-frozen android from a while ago. She blended in perfectly.

He tore his eyes away and scanned the rest of the stalls. They were full of flashy commercial items meant to please outside visitors. There wasn’t a single normal product in sight, even the cables had a fancy 5+1 packaging. Now why would the research station even use this way to restock every few-

Derek turned around and walked out of the market, down the connecting passageway and back to the docks. A customary glance through the docking ships didn’t reveal anything much either - there were no cargo shuttles, nor any short distance ones - just a mix of pinners, LD shuttles, fighters and… basically nothing that Derek would have used to restocking if he had an illegal research facility. But then again, if Derek had one, he wouldn’t want to dock in-

Wait.

He set on walking the perimeter of the docking dome, scanning the walls. Standard surface… standard… a maintenance door, simple, standard… standard… standard… he walked around a high wall of haphazardly stacked storage units… standard. Wait. He stopped, turning around to look at the storage units. They were empty.

He walked closer, pretending to be inspecting the storage units and noticed a door. Except, it was just another maintenance door. A maintenance door with triple seals and a Whittemorian scent mark all around the area.

Derek’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster.

This was it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Supriiiise! I thought I would post a chapter ahead of my schedule just to thank you all for the support and wish you happy holidays and all that, so... here we are, hope you will enjoy it and hope you will have a lovely week! And of course, feel free to leave art suggestions down below, because this chapter has no art yet either :) Cheerios~
> 
> EDIT: A huge thank you to @LivesUnderARock who brought up the visual f the 1-0-0 species. I just had to draw that for the chapter pic. Thanks for the inspiration!  
> __________

 

 

Now, he could have left it at that and waited for his team to report in his findings, but he wanted to be sure it wasn’t a waste of their efforts.

A maintenance door with triple seals might have meant there was a small reactor behind it and the Whittemorian scent could also mean anything - he would be too racist to think a Whittemorian would never be found around any maintenance area - albeit it was… rather interesting.

And so he decided to investigate further, but not in his current form. That would have been a too big of a risk at this stage of their mission.

Instead, he lifted one of the empty storage units and took it back to their shuttle. It was the only place that that shielded from the Dock’s surveillance.  He put it down next to the entrance and looked around for Danny. Just in case.

He could see him standing near a Vulgular shuttle far off, talking to their pilot with a smile plastered on his face. Ahh, showing his teeth wasn’t really a good idea with a Vulgular, with any species if truth was told, but whatever. The most Danny would get was a blaland refusal.

Derek didn’t have much time to lose.

He walked into the shuttle and closed the door. He had to hurry. Luckily, his recent ritual helped him to change shapes faster.

Sharp and solid talons sprouted from his fingers instead of his feeble nails, a tail grew from his backbone  - it was all very familiar to him in shapes and sizes. All except for the coverage, because instead of his usual thick long fur, scales erupted from under his skin and covered him like a flexible armor.

He fell to all four, flexing to one side to keep stabilized and exhaled a few times. It was hard to breathe while he was leaning onto one side, because his lungs were constricted. He had expected as much, but that didn’t mean it didn’t scare him. How did the Whittemorians walk around with so much confidence when each tilt of their body pressed on either side of their lungs? No wonder they were irritated all the time.

Derek stood up, flickering his tongue around. He couldn’t sense much inside of the shuttle at that moment. Well, it was now or never.

He exited the shuttle quickly and took the empty storage unit. Now he just had to hope, that the surveillance wasn’t as heavily watched. Otherwise it might be a tad too confusing and somebody might decide to investigate the anomaly..

His body moved heavily and his tail swished around rather haphazardly as he walked through the shuttles... basically naked. It was his only luck that Whittemorians usually walked around with very little clothes.

The only downside of this shape was that each step he took made his breath stutter like that of a newborn babe, but he didn’t waste time to learn how to do it properly. The door-

“Hey, excuse me,” he heard from behind him, a hissing sound accompanying the SLA language. He twisted around to see Danny standing at a respectful distance with the interpreting function on his holo held up high in the air.

“Would you happen to have a sonic screwdriver I could borrow? I got a core to tweak before my crew gets back with  supplies.” _Ah, that was rather smart of him_ , Derek noted. Except _he_ wasn’t the right target to talk to.

The way Derek’s body was twisted didn’t allow for much air to flow into his lungs, so he turned around fully and regarded Danny with a look that was hopefully convincing enough.

“I didn’t mean to bother,” Danny added, smiling. Again with the teeth. Derek decided to respond in the same matter and opened his jaws to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

“No sssssonic,” Derek hissed in Whittemorian, listening in to the interpreter repeating the exact same thing the SLA.

Danny just nodded and waved his goodbye without a second gaze. He obviously understood that Derk wasn’t a good subject for fishing information out of. Obviously. Well, he did well trying anyways.

Derek walked back to the maintenance door and put the empty storage back on the pile. He then walked to the door, flickering his tongue around to get a better sense of the Whittemorian whose scent was all around the place. He wasn’t able to interpret it well enough. _A male, wasn’t it?_

Now for another test.

He slapped his hand against the pad next to the door. The door opened and Derek grinned widely. Not many life forms would know that all Whittemorians had the same body constellations with no deviations, not within adults anyways - it was pretty much the easiest race to copy for a Shifter.

Once the door opened, Derek could see that the corridor following was not that long at all. And also that at the end of it was the actual Whittemorian, turning around with a dangerous sort of hissing noise.

Derek held his breath and swished his tail. Its end nicked the back of his head before the situation could develop any more. It took only a heartbeat and the other Whittemorian was falling backwards, his limbs locked in paralysis. Derek grabbed him, covering his mouth and pulled him as close to the maintenance door as possible, so that they would be hidden by its darkness.

He grabbed the piece of garment he was wearing around his head and stuffed it into his mouth. Then unbuckled his belt with guns tinkering along and clasped it around his own hips. He walked out into the light without sparing his victim another glance.

It was just as he had thought - a private Dock with a cargo shuttle nestled in the middle. This was exactly what they were-

“Sisss-iss-iss!” A head poked from inside the shuttle and beckoned him to come closer. It was a Norgarian, a race very similar to humans in shape. Sort of anyways. Except there were more limbs involved. And a hive mind. Still. At least they were using the SLA, so he didn’t have to engage in their language… it was a bit mouthful and pretty much impossible to pull of with just one set of vocal cords.

“Sisss-iss-iss! Come on, we gotta go-o-o,” they said, the echo of their voices resonating within the small dome. “Xim is already waiting outside with his shuttle-le, he will squeeze the life of us if we don't scram now-ow-w!”

Derek hesitated. He shouldn’t…

“Get the fuck on or I will report you-ou-u! I ain’t losing points for a fucking delay-lay-ay-y!” the Norgarian screeched, closing the window with a heavy thud. The seals jumped into action, hissing as they welded the materials together.

Without much of a choice.

Derek sprinted to the shuttle and jumped in through the back, his tail barely avoiding the shutting door.

There was a whirl of movement in the corner of his eye that seemed foreign, but as he turned around, he saw nothing other than his tail. _Wait_ , something scrambled behind a storage unit to his right. Something small - he flicked his tongue - it wasn’t organic.

“Buckle up Siss-iss-iss!” came a shout, an echo bouncing back to him from the wall reinforcing the order. “The fuck is wrong with you…ou...ou...”

Derek lumbered to the front and sat down at the co-pilot seat grumbling all the way. The seat didn’t take his tail into account. He hated it already.

The shuttle vibrated and jerked slightly into three different directions before it set off on its way outside. The Norgarian cursed and moved his multiple arms switching, pressing and coercing the shuttle to stabilize as well as possible, but it was still all over the place. One would have thought they could have afforded a set of nice stabilizers, but no.

Derek was not looking forward to the rest of the ride at all.

 

~o~

 

The Norgarian was talking to himself the whole flight. It didn’t take long to get there per se and with his constant stream of words it actually seemed a lot faster, but it still didn’t calm Derek down.

This was the opposite of a stealthy and careful mission. He was on enemy territory without a plan. He guessed he could just pop a ride back in the next circle, since there seemed to have been only two cargo shuttles pendelling to and fro, but still. He didn’t know how long the intervals were and it might be the Whittemoriand back in docks would either get discovered before he could return or the paralysis would fade out just as fast.

He was pretty much busy trying to stay calm for the whole length of the flight. Fun. Even more fun with lungs constricted by that fucking chair.

Once they docked down at the research facility, the Norgarian waved his multiple hands in the direction of storage units at the back and proclaimed they were all his. “I made sure to catch up to your delay by cutting through the asteroid belt-elt-elt, the unloading is on you Siss-iss-iss. Enjoy-oy-y.”

And just like that, Derek was left all alone in the dock. The Norgarian disappeared through a passage at the front, that wa obviously used as free-time quarters for the shuttle workers. There was only one other door there, a sheer double door leading into the rest of the facility on the opposite side.

Now, Derek could just unload the cargo and wait for them to go back down, but… Stiles was there somewhere, right behind those doors.

Maybe he could at least… he grabbed the first storage unit and heaved it up on his shoulder. He didn’t even try to look for droids. Illegal places barely used any, since they were paranoid enough to think them hacked by the IA. Which they mostly were. Nobody else had the resources to build that many bots anyways.

He placed the storage unit near the double door. They slid open by an automatic command. There was a chamber dividing one door from the other. He went in, but the other doors remained closed.

“Commence equalization?” an artificial voice sounded throughout the chamber.

Derek stepped back out of the chamber. He didn’t know what atmosphere was hiding behind the second door. It might as well kill him in this shape if the chamber got flooded. It did look rather… like thick pinkish smoke.

He needed a bit more time to think and so he set on unloading the storage units from the shuttle. When he was walking back to the chamber with a fifth one, he caught a glimpse of it again - a weird movement just at the edge of his sight. He whipped his head around, flicked his tongue in the direction but couldn’t sense a life form of any kind.

Was something artificial sneaking in behind his back, watching him or was he just catching the movement of his tail? He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t used to having his tail completely on command and definitely forgot about it a lot. Still…

He finished the unloading with paranoia creeping his way into the back of his head. And for a good reason, because the facility must have been watching him, because once he was done with unloading, the first door closed and the chamber started to equalize. He watched it happen from the safety of the dock.

Once it was equalized, a life form he had never seen before appeared on the other side of the corridor. It was floating in the direction of the chamber, its hundreds upon hundreds tendrils extending to slide over every possible surface - the wall, the floor, the switches, the buttons.

If Derek were to be crude, he would have compared its shape to that of a translucent scarf flying away in a harsh wind. Sort of anyways.

He watched it float to the second door, its tendrils caressing the pad. The door slid open and the life form glid inside of the chamber, extending all its tendrils. They filled the space, touching each piece of surface, then most of them retracted and the remaining ones nudged the storage units, which rose with ease. The tendrils grabbed each storage unit and then started to pull them down the corridor. It wasn’t long before the life form disappeared behind the corner leaving Derek alone.

 

~o~

 

Derek couldn’t stop staring at the double door. By all means the clever and _safe_ thing would be to wait it out and return back to the market, talk to his team first to figure it all out and actually make some sort of a plan. But he was so close. Stiles was within the grasp - at least figuratively, because Derek of course had no idea what the layout of the facility was. It could be a maze and Stiles could be all the way in the back, tortured, used as a lab rat, broken, hurt...

Just that thought made Derek stand up and pace around the shuttle. His tail was swishing around and he was struggling to keep his breathing calm. His lungs felt constricted. And not because of the Whittemorian anatomy. This was something else, something more.

He looked back at the door and then further into the facility. The atmosphere beyond the second door was no good for this body. A Whittemorian wouldn’t be able to survive long enough to reach anything important in such an environment. He was pretty sure about that. The thick smog didn’t look very welcoming.

He slid his fingers across the screen and brought up the anatomy of the 1-0-0. Apparently the life form he saw earlier had no given name in the native language. Mainly because there was no native language one could put into words. The only thing these life forms had was touch to work with.

Derek scanned the shapes one more time, looked at the chemical composition, related processes...anything he could find. It wasn’t much, but it was just about enough for him to…

He then glanced up at the double door. He hesitated. It would definitely be better to sit back and wait… it would definitely be safer. Not only for him, but also for the whole mission. _Don’t be foolish, don’t be reckless, don’t..._

Derek’s eyes jumped from the holo to the door a few times. It would definitely make more sense to not engage. He could mess up the whole extraction. He could blow his human cover. He could do so many things. But… _but_.

“Sssshit,” he hissed, slapping his hand against his bracelet to turn off the holo. He had come this far. One step further might not… he stopped in his tracks, watching the door again. The last time he hesitated this much… he lost his pack.

Derek hissed when he thought back to that time and just like that, he made a decision. He turned around and slapped his hand across the pad of the door in the back. The door to the pilot’s quarters sealed close. He took a gun from his belt and fired at the pad a few times to disable did. He did the same to the lock.

He then lumbered to the shuttle, kicking off the little wing protruding in the back. With the now detached part in his arms, he hurried to the double door. The first one opened with a hiss, no problems there. Derek wedged the wing into the small tracks in the floor and walked into the chamber.

The first door tried to close, but the wing wedged in it stopped it from moving any further. An error alert jumped up at the pad. Derek fired a few shots at the inner frames of the door. The receptors melted away and the error disappeared.

By now the 1-0-0 probably got some sort of an alert memo, but he wasn’t overly worried about it. They were essentially blind. Any sort of surveillance must have been working in a different way. Probably. A “probably” was good enough.

“Commence equalization?” an artificial voice sounded throughout the chamber.

“Yessss,” Derek hissed and tapped the pad next to the second door. The chamber started to balance out their atmosphere, filling it with thick smog. It began to billow out of the opened door into the docks as well.

Derek was glad for the added time though. He brought up his holo again and took one last look at the 1-0-0. He wasn’t really looking forward to this shape, but it was too late to turn back now.

The air around him was getting thick beyond a measure. It was getting too hard to breathe and were he to remain as a Whittemorian any longer, his lungs would suffer through too much damage. It was time for a new shift.

 

~o~

 

He was blind. He couldn’t see anything. Scratch that, he wasn’t even breathing! He was suffocating. The shift didn’t work out and he was trapped in the new atmosphere with Whittemorian lungs. He wanted to scream but he couldn’t. He wanted to do many things, but after the initial shock he knew there was only one thing he needed to do and do it fast - calm the fuck down.

He kicked out his leg. Except it didn’t feel like a leg at all… it felt as if he was stretching out a very thin and fragile tentacle. It connected with a surface and suddenly, Derek didn’t feel like he was floating in a pitch dark space with the most severe case of sensory deprivation squeezing the life out of him. There was a point in space that made total sense, a point he could imagine since he had seen it in his Whittemorian shift - the floor of the chamber.

His panic lessened almost automatically. He had lost enough time submerged in its sticky smog. It was now time to find Stiles.

Derek stretched out all of his tendrils until they reached a surface of sorts and then slid the nerves at the ends against it to get a better feel for his surroundings. Three of them were on the pad. He slid it over the pad and the second door opened. He knew it opened because the nerves at the back of his body transmitted a loss of the surface.

After he opened the door, he noticed a subtle vibration in the air. He could feel it all around him when the nerves weren’t touching anything else. He wondered what that could be at first, but then decided to ignore it and head out into the facility.

Setting up a mental counter was a given.

_One._

He floated down the first corridor, trying to get used to the new movement and relaying on his touch. Once he turned the corner, the surface changed. It became bumpy at places - probably some sort of a printed language or… whatever the fuck, but he couldn’t make sense of it so he filed it under yet another thing that had to be ignored.

Funnily enough, there were no doors anywhere, just rooms upon rooms. Or something that seemed like rooms to Derek’s mind anyways.. The silence was making each and every one of them scarier and scarier. But he had to work fast, this was no time for dwindling around.

_Ten._

The first room was empty, the walls were soft and flexible like deflated balloons. Upon touch they started to seep into his nerves, making them feel tingly. He retracted all of his tendrils at once and continued on.

_Twenty-two._

The next room was the same.

_Twenty-nine._

In fact the next seven rooms were not different.

_Hundred eleven._

Derek was starting to think he must have missed a corridor or something when something on his right moved. A single tendril touched his fragile body and he flinched out of the way, colliding to the opposite wall. More tendrils stretched out to meet his body, caressing him soothingly as the life form passed to float in the opposite direction.

He extended a few tendrils and carressed the other 1-0-0 in turn, hoping his flinch didn’t brew any sort of suspicion. Not that he would now even if it did.

 _Damn, How much was it now?_ _Hundred twenty-one._

He needed to hurry. He kicked it up a notch and started to float deeper into the facility.

There was a cubicle of sorts on his left. He moved inside, extending his tendrils. Again the bumps on the wall. Or was it some sort of a screen? He wasn’t sure. The bumps moved, forming different constellations… he couldn’t decipher anything. It was rather frustrating.

But, wait… he could feel something similar to a pod in the middle of the cubicle. He floated around, feeling it up, but he only found another bumpy surface and then nothing else. Two of his tendrils slipped to the top of the pod. And there was something there!

He moved more tendrils up, circling the form. It was a statue of sorts. It’s head was moving from left to right, it’s hand outstretched to the front. Judging by the tail and the overall shape of it, Derek knew right away that it was a Whittemorian. He was pretty sure that it was some sort of a projection of what the pod contained.

_Hundred forty-three._

He left this cubicle and searched for more. There was another right next to it. He didn’t waste any time and floated up to feel for the race inside the pod. Not Stiles.

_Hundred forty-eight._

Another. Not him.

_Hundred fifty-four._

Another. Not a human shape either.

_Hundred sixty-one._

He wasn’t sure how many he went through. At some point, he found out that the tendrils on his sides could extent as far as he wanted them to and he resolved to just floating down the corridor and checking each cubicle on both of his sides with six of his tendrils each.

_Hundred eighty-seven._

_Hundred eighty-eight._

_Hundred eighty-nine._

There were so many cubicles, so many pods, so many different lab rats. With some shapes he himself wasn’t even sure what kind of a life form it was.

Until he bumped his tendrils on a form of a human.

He stopped in his tracks and turned into the cubicle. It was indeed a human. One head, two arms, two legs. The proportions were right.

Derek tried to think back on Stiles’ proportions but he couldn’t be sure this was the right thing. It could be just any other human… he slid more tendrils around the statue and mapped it out. He wasn't sure. _Shit_ . If he took this one and it turned out it wasn’t Stiles…. he slid his tendril over the head, taking his time to feel it out. _Wait, this hair was probably too long for it to be Stiles’. Not him._

 _Two_ _hundred seven. Shit._

Derek moved out of the cubicle and continued with his search, trying to get through each cubicle faster.

Another human on his left. But a woman this time. He didn’t waste much more time after he felt breasts under his tendril.

_Two hundred twenty-one._

One more human on the left. A small child, not bigger than a newborn baby - moving on.

_Two hundred seventy-five._

And again a human, but this was one way too fat to be Stiles.

_Two hundred seventy-eight._

Derek was starting to think he won’t ever find him, but he couldn't just give up, not now, not after all he went through to get here, Not when he was this close.

Next batch of cubicles contained a few Norgarians. He was starting to sense a pattern, but then why wasn’t Stiles with the human group? Except…

_Three hundred seventeen._

The next cubicle contained a full fledged Nano male. He could feel the long slender body, the bold scalp, the thin limbs… if he’s had a heart in this form he would have felt it beating like crazy. As it was he could only feel weird vibration curling the ends of his tendrils.

 _Three hundred twenty-one_.

He extended his tendrils into the next cubicle, sliding them over the top of the pod. The statue was curled up on itself, swaying slightly, but he could still make up the shapes - thin human-like limbs, slender body, a bold head that upon closer inspection revealed a buzz-cut texture.

_Three hundred twenty-nine._

It had to be Stiles.


	12. Chapter 12

 

 

Derek found Stiles’ pod. What next? How could he take the whole pod back to the docks? One would have said it was rather foolish to try and wedge the pod off just using his tendrils. Still. Worth a try. At this point anything was worth a try.

He winded his tendrils around the pod and pulled, hoping against all logic that they wouldn’t just simply snap off his fragile body. They didn’t. And the pod actually moved after the first pull. It actually... floated up. The dense atmosphere made it feel light.

Well… good.

After a bit of fussing and feeling up all around him, he was able to secure the pod under his waist. He used his front tendrils to map out the way ahead and retracted the ones on the tail to be able to move a lot quicker.

He set on his way with Stiles nestled safely under his body.

_Three hundred sixty-four._

The vibrations all around got a lot stronger than before, which Derek concluded was not good for him, but he didn’t have time to stop and think about it. He just kept moving on.

Up until he reached the sticky rooms and something grabbed him from the side. The foreign tendrils wound themselves around the net he had created for the pod and pulled all his sails together, making Derek drop the pod altogether.

He would have growled in frustration, but couldn’t. The only thing he could do was turn to his right and extent all his tendrils to try and get a feel of the other 1-0-0.

His nerves hit the wall.

There was a slight movement in the atmosphere and he could feel something moving above him, but before he could react in any way, it wrapped its tendrils around him, squeezing the living hell out of his body.

The hold was firm and suffocating. Even if Derek didn’t have to breathe in this form, he could still feel his exoskeleton ready to burst out of his translucent case.

_Shit._

He extended a few tendrils, trying to get a feel for where the pod was and thus find some sort of a stepping-stone. He found it way too far ahead and the weirdest thing was that just as he had grabbed it, it slipped out from under him.

He tried again, but the pod was tugged right under him again. _Shit_ , why was he even thinking about the pod at a time like this anyways? First he needed to get free of this shackles.

The 1-0-0 started pulling him down the corridor, away from the dock and no matter what he did, he was not able to break free. It was maddening. He tried to trash his body here and there. Tried to pry the tendrils off him with his own ones. Tried to twist and shake… but he didn’t know how to fight in this shape. He wouldn’t have even thought there was a way to fight like this weren’t he currently subjected to it.

The squeeze was causing him to lose all the feeling in his tendrils. He could barely move them anymore. They started to go limp.

_Shit. Shit._

Wait, he didn’t really have to fight in _this_ shape now, did he?

His body moved on its own. One tendril shivered and grew fatter and fatter, its tip sharpening. The chemicals reacted within it until it formed into the shape of a Whittemorian tail. It burned to have it out in the open, in the embrace of the poisonous atmosphere, the new organic matter was slowly dissolving…

Derek didn’t wait for it to dissolve totally. He swished the tail around at the other 1-0-0 and punctured its body. He did it again and again, until the life from let go of him and pulled out of his personal space with a strong tremble in the atmosphere.

The tail was slowly dissipating and he let it fall off uselessly. There was no time to squirm around in pain. He snapped his body and hurried back to the pod, extending his tendrils as far as he could in their semi-limp state.

The pod wasn’t where he’d left it. In fact it was nowhere in the corridor ahead. He kept feeling it up, confused out of his mind. Maybe he left it somewhere else? Maybe some other 1-0-0 took it while he was fighting its brethren? Maybe…

The only way to go was ahead though. They definitely wouldn’t be able to smuggle the pod back inside the facility. Derek kept racing ahead. He could feel the tremors just behind his body, more 1-0-0 slipping into the corridor to chase after him. He sped up.

He reached the end of the corridor and slipped through one door, through the chamber and he was almost in the dock, when they finally caught up with him. Tendrils grabbed him. They looped around a few of his own and started to pull him back into the chamber.

And as if that wasn’t enough, he could feel a gust of wind coming from the direction of the shuttle.

 _What the hell… who…?_ The atmosphere was still poisonous-

More tendrils grasped at him, the strength of the pull getting fiercer. It made him crash into the wedged door from the outside. He wrapped his remaining tendrils around it and tried to remain in the dock. If they pulled him into the chamber, he was sure he would never get out again.

It was a real struggle.

One of his tendrils snapped painfully off his body. He could feel some of his linguids bleeding out into the atmosphere - the wound was burning more than fire, the poisonous vapors were entering his body through the wound, dissolving the insides.

The shuttle ahead shuddered. The engines were being preheated. The tremble of the atmosphere could only mean one thing… _oh no_ , the back door was being closed. Somebody was just fucking gonna fly away with his only way out!

It was obviously time for desperate measures.

He used his remaining tendrils to heave the wedged wing from the rail and the door snapped shut almost immediately. That also meant it cut off most of his tendris, leaving them bleeding, opened and raw out in the atmosphere. The smog did not waste any time to start feasting on his flesh.

None of that mattered though. He snapped his body once, snapped in twice in a vicious crazy motion, hoping it was not too late, hoping he could still make it.

The back door of the shuttle was almost closed. The door of the equalization chamber was opening again, tendrils reaching out to grasp him.

A few frantic movements later, he was able to squeeze into the shuttle. He was almost in, when the tendrils grabbed the back of his body. It pulled him back a bit and the door snapped the end of his fragile body off, seals falling in place.

It hurt like a bitch. But it was fine. It was fine. He was in. _Thank the living fuck!_

The shuttle shuddered and rose from the platform.

Derek extended his front tendrils - the only ones remaining and they bumped into Stiles’ pod. It was right there, safely nestled in the back of the shuttle, still closed and undamaged

Before Derek could even start to wonder how, what and where, the filters in the roof of the shuttle started to hiss and clear the poisonous dense atmosphere out of the shuttle. The fresh air was starting to fill the area and Derek was starting to suffocate again.

How did the saying go again?

Right.

From smoke into smother - the story of his life.

 

~o~

 

Once the levels of normal breathable air reached over the half of the whole content, Derek’s body fell down and slammed painfully on the floor right next to the pod. It was suddenly so heavy, he was barely able to lift a tendril. His tendrils felt like dry wires and they were quickly becoming ones too.

On top of that was the pain. Oh, the fucking pain that… Derek didn’t even want to describe it in his head. In fact, he was trying to not think of it at all. But as it happened not thinking of the pain only brought the thought more to the forefront.

It was time to shape out.

But into what?

He would have preferred his human shape, but there might be some major issues with that. Starting with meeting whoever just pulled them out of the research facility. The one waiting behind the connecting door to the pilot cabin.

He needed to stay undercover for a bit longer. Even if he wouldn’t have any more energy left to return to his own shape.

And so Derek concentrated on the previous Whittemorian shift, starting with lungs. They bubbled up inside of him, connecting to the already forming throat. The first breath was like a taste of… well, like taking the first breath after being born, he supposed. No matter how crude that might have sounded.

The poor remains of his tendrils merged into four growing limbs, his body grew firmer, knitting together where it was torn and abused. It was hard to add more mass into his body when he was this damaged, this _tired_ and by all means it should have been impossible - what with his race being all wiped out, the mass balance of the universe was stretched out thin with only two of them being able to shapeshift. Still. He made due.

The only thing left was the tail, but he didn’t get as far, because the door slid open and the pilot jumped at his neck before he could even breathe out the stars from his head.

Lovely, as if he didn’t have enough suffocating in one circle. The universe just wasn’t on his side for some reason.

The pilot… the pilot was an android hand. Ah, so that was what he saw sneaking into the shuttle before. And that was what pulled Stiles’ pod out of the facility while he was struggling to keep the swarm of 1-0-0 at bay _and_ that’s what piloted the shuttle out. _Morrell could have said this was her plan all along._

But... it was not as if he could complain right there and then. He was still undercover.

“W-wait,” he cracked, his hands coming up to try and pry the hand off him. His pleading wasn’t doing anything though. Nor his own hand, it was still not formed fully, claws deformed or missing.

So he tried a different tactic. “Mor...ehl.”

The hold on him lessened and he was finally able to get the hand off him. It landed on the floor, crawling a bit away from him into a more defensive position.

“Sssson of a- I am on your sssside,” he added after a few deep inhales.

“State your business,” came out from the wrist of the hand. Some sort of automatic engage system. It would have been impossible for Morrell to be actually in touch with her hand right now. It must have been some sort of a bare copy of her.

“Jackssson contacted ussss for an undercover exxxxtraction missssion,” he hissed. “I took the job. Didn’t your crew inform you, you ssssadissstic bitch?” It wasn’t that he wanted to insult her. He just felt that he had to as a pure Whittemorian. They definitely wouldn’t tolerate this sort of behaviour.

He kept on. “Where isss the thankssss. I practically got him out for you.”

“Business valid. Permission to stay aboard granted,” the hand replied, crawling back to the front of the shuttle. It was starting to shudder way too much. The autopilot wasn’t doing a well enough job. Not with the ripped out stabilizer wing.

Derek sighed and looked down at the pod.

At least they got Stiles back. Or at least he really hoped it was him. It was time to find out.

 

~o~

 

The pod, as it turned out, was pretty much impregnable to your common Whittemorian. There were no obvious buttons to press, nor any other obvious mechanism of opening the fucking can.

Derek walked around it a few times - tapped it, tried to pry it open with his deformed claws - nothing worked. He even tried to kick it a few times for a good measure, but the result was the same - practically non-existent.

The fact that the material holo on top of it stopped working in their air was not helping it much either. Was Stiles alright?

He glanced over to the pilot seat. The hand was struggling to keep them upright and also watching him from where it was wedged on the control panel. Literally. There was a camera stuck to the end of its middle finger. It was rather ironic really.

“Any ideasss on how to open thissss can?” he asked.

“This unit does not contain a manual on opening pods,” came out from its speaked in the wrist.

Derek cursed under his breath. “Of courssse it doesssn’t.”

He looked around the cargo area for something that might help. These sort of shuttles usually had a kit somewhere around… he walked to the small bench at the front and looked under it. Nothing. There weren’t even any hidden panels for tools in the walls. This cargo shuttle was really stripped bare. Well, it was for short distances after all.

The pod was sitting in the middle of it all, laughing at him. Metaphorically, anyways.

He wished he’d had time to finish building up his tail. Walking around without it really messed up his balance. It was not helping his mood much.

The shuttle shuddered again. His side collided with the wall.

It was just about time to stop playing around. They would need to land in the dock soon and transfer to their own shuttle. There was no way in hell they could carry this monstrosity over.

“Any ideasss yet?” he mocked the hand, but it just repeated the same old song to him: “This unit does not contain a manual on opening pods.”

Whatever. He’d watched Peter sabotage shit enough of times…

Derek walked to the top of the pod, where the stand for the material holo was and kicked into it. It cracked. He repeated the procedure over and over until the holo trickled on the floor. It did so rather reluctantly, but Derek wasn’t really up to his usual strength so he wasn’t really that offended.

He kicked off the piece of… well, he wasn’t sure what it was, it just looked like some sort of a hardened… black… goo?

The full cover came off after a few more kicks and revealed a mess of wires… wires? More like… it kinda looked like the tendrils the 1-0-0 had on their body.

Now, the question was - how resistant were Whittemorians to electroshocks? Well, he was about to find out.

 

~o~

 

Derek used some of his claws to strip the wires of the gel casing. He scraped it of from at least a whole dozen of them and then grabbed them all in his hand, pressing them into a tight knot. Nothing happened.

He was about to let it go when a spark send his arm away and something clicked inside of the pod. But it wasn’t the door. Derek didn’t exactly have a good feeling about the whole thing anymore - and he wasn’t thinking that because of the electric shock he received.

There was a faint thud from the inside of the pod they wouldn’t have been able to hear unless the top cover was off. It came again and again as if somebody was trying to get out.

Derek could feel cold crawling up his spine. What the fuck did that short circuit do? Was the poc malfunctioning?

He jumped on the pod and rammed his claws against its surface. Barely a scratch. He needed stronger claws.

The thumping inside got more insistent and so Derek kept going - he pushed what energy he had left into forming the hardest material he could over his fingers and started to ram them against the same part over and over. He could hear the bones crunching in his hand, he could feel Morrell’s hand watching him intensely, he could feel blood seeping down his claws, but he didn’t stop.

And when his right hand was fucked up beyond recognition and there was a deep crack in the pod, he used his other hand and slid of his talons inside, forcing the crack deeper and wider.

The crystal gave in.

Derek stumbled back, huffing from the extortion and watched as a naked human emerged from the inside like a Whittemorian being born from a small blue egg.

A leg kicked off a thin layer of crystal and then there was a hand prying it all off. Finally a head surfaced and a human pulled himself out of the slime inside of the pod. He doubled over and gripped the tubes connected to his mouth and nose. He yanked at them once and his lungs whistled in pain. He yanked at them again. They did move a bit but stayed firmly connected to his insides.

Derek watched him struggle for a few heartbeats and then moved closer, gripping the back of his neck. Using his claws, he quickly scraped off the slime holding the tubes glued to his face and then helped him pull them out.

The body beneath his fingers shuddered and heaved for a few times. Then the tubes came off and fell down on the floor together with acidic vomit. It wasn’t really a pleasant thing to be near of, but Derek didn’t move away.

The human sobbed, clenching the side of the pod, still sitting in the disgusting slime inside, but he could finally breathe properly.

That was when Derek saw blood dripping down into the vomit and for a second he got worried, but then he realized humans don’t possess green blood. It was his own hand still pressed against the back of the neck.

The human noticed it too. He looked up and...

It was him. It was…

“Stilesss,” Derek breathed in relief.

Stiles didn’t look as relieved though. He slapped his hand away with a distressed sort of sound and stumbled out of the pod faster than should have been possible. Or well… tried. The rest of the tubes connected to his other openings pulled him back and he crushed back into the slime with a yelp.

“Carefffful,” Derek said, trying to keep the hissing at minimum. It was a rather impossible task.

“W-” Stiles gulped a few times. It was obviously hurting him more than he was willing to led on because he wasn’t even able to finish the whole word. “Wha-”

He closed his mouth and took a proper look at him. Derek could see him finally take everything around into account too. The primary panic subsided slightly.

“This is-  same... carg-o,” he croaked warily.

“Yesss,” Derek nodded.

“But...yo-...you ai...n’t,” Stiles stated.

“No, I am notttt.”

Stiles nodded and turned to inspect the pilot section. His shoulders relaxed a lot more once he noticed Morrell’s hand on top of the control panel, dancing along different buttons and switches.

He turned back to Derek. “R-es...cue?” A hopeful little smile appeared on his lips. It was so small Derek couldn’t bare to look at it. He didn’t look away though.

_They found him. They got him. It’s alright now._

“Yeah,” he whispered totally out of it. “I couldn’t jussst-” he started saying, but cut himself off before he could say anything stupid. He wasn’t Derek right now. He needed to remain incognito still. What the hell was wrong with him?

Well, a lot of things, but for starters, as his adrenaline went down, he noticed all the pain his current body was gifting him with - his hands hurt, his nonexistent tail created a raw wound on his butt and he was fucking exhausted, but…

“Autopilot disabled,” said the shuttle’s interface out of nowhere. “Commence descending. Pilot required.”

Stiles glanced at his bleeding hands and inclined his head in the direction of the pilot’s seat. His hand wondered hurriedly back into the slime to pull at something. Presumably the catheter that was holding him glued to the pod still. “Shou…?”

Morrell’s hand scrambled to grab the steering rod before Derek could even open his mouth.

“Ah...guess no-t...need-ed,” Stiles said and then reached back to pull one more tube out off his body. He cringed as it left his entrails.

Derek busied himself with studying his hands, wondering how much more energy he had left… will it be enough for one more shift? He was rather sceptical about that.

In the meantime, Stiles managed to climb out of the pod, his hands shaking so much he almost slipped on the slime and rammed his head on the crystal protruding from the broken lid.

His skin was covered in slime and grime and all sorts of disgusting stuff. But other than that he looked unharmed… well superficially anyways if one didn’t count that weird red rash all over his skin.

Still. The fact that Derek couldn’t hear any sort of song coming from him was more troubling than an opened wound would have been. Maybe it was just this shift… maybe these ears weren’t able to pick it up?

Doubtful.

“So,” Stiles said between coughing and spitting. He gestured at his naked form. “Cloth-...?”

Derek just shook his head.

The shuttle shuddered a lot more than ever before.

Stiles just nodded, sliding down to the floor, exhausted, panting. His hands did not stop shaking ever since.

Derek wanted to get closer to help him somehow, but thought better of it. This form wasn’t exactly suitable for that sort of a thing. So instead, he sat down on the floor as well. He wasn’t sure his legs could hold him up anymore anyways. Not while the shuttle was subsided to landing tremors.

He ran his eyes over Stiles’ body making sure he was alright… for like the fifth time for some reason. He would have wanted to reach over and make sure it wasn’t just some sort of a holo, but refrained himself. It was Stiles. They really did get him back. _Stop it._

Stiles gave him a weird look.

“So ugh... what’s the…? What’s next?” he asked.

“You will change shuttlesss,” Derek hissed, leaning his head back. “Your crew isss already waiting to essscort you back home.”

He nodded and then coughed softly. “What about… about you… are you?”

Derek still had a role to play. “I wwwill collect my rewardssss.” He said forcing a grin to his lips. It came in easily. This was, after all, a very successful mission.

Stiles watched him for a bit and then nodded, sliding his fingers down his leg to get rid of some of the slime. He grimaced when it stuck to his palm. Derek watched it drop to the floor.

Morrell’s hand was performing the last landing maneuver. They were almost back to the market’s docks.

Stiles looked up at him. “Th-anks,” he said. “I never...ugh, thought…”

“A Whitttttemorian would ssssave a lowlife like you?” Derek guessed. By the looks of it, he guessed it correctly enough. “Everytttthing hasss a priccce.”

Stiles frowned “Ho-...much did...? Bea-on is… bu-t we got no…”

He closed his mouth when Derek looked at him. He _did_ want to continue his charade, he did want to say something about the Sheriff being in his debt or whatever, but he was tired and also he didn’t think stressing Stiles about debts or whatever was a good idea at that moment.

Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about an answer, because the shuttle landed.

So instead he just stood up, moving to stand at the door. It opened… right into the embrace of a very angry-looking Whittemorian, which is what he noticed right after the said life form stabbed him in the gut, burying its sharp and poisonous goad deep inside his already tired body.

The universe was obviously a cruel motherfucker.

Lovely.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Excuse the lack of chapter pics lately, I am dealing with a crazy eczema flare-up and it's hard to draw. Honestly, stay away from corticosteroids, kids, that shit is just gonna make it worse in the long run... anyhow, enjoy the reading!
> 
> EDIT: Pic available!
> 
> __________

 

 

Derek caught up quickly enough. Surprisingly. It might have been the excruciating pain or perhaps the fact that this toes were quickly losing the feel in them.

He blinked and grabbed the goad in his gut before it could leave his body. The Whittemorian in front of him tugged at it and Derek let it slide out to the point where his hid-claw hit edge of the goad.

He then jabbed his claw under the goad, forcing it to come off. The end of it dislodged and the Whittemorian stumbled back by the sheer power of velocity.

“Oh shit, dude!” he could hear behind him, but he paid it no attention. The poison just immobilized his legs. He pulled the goad out of his guts with a vicious hiss and threw it at the Whittemorian.

He ducked, but not well enough. It grazed his shoulder.

Derek sank down, his ass hitting the floor painfully. He was holding his wound, but knew he only had a few heartbeats before he would lose the feeling in his hands too and wouldn’t be able to press against the wound anymore. It was a common Whittemorian strategy - hit the biggest artery and let them bleed out on their own.

Stiles was by him before he could even realize it. “Oh...fu-ck!” He tried to press his hands against the wound too, but Derek didn’t let him.

“Go… go,” he urged, shoving him out of his personal space. “Go beffffore more offf them come.” He couldn’t feel any pain anymore, his stomach was numb. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy about that or not.

“Ca-n’t… just...,” Stiles argued, but Derek cut him off, turning his head to the hand that had just scrambled aaround them.

“Take him,” he ordered. “Take him.”

“No...yo-”

“Take him!” he hissed, feeling his hands grow numb bit by bit. “Get the ffffuck out offf here!” he yelled. Maybe he could attempt a shift to get rid of the poison, but he couldn’t possibly do it with an audience.

It was then that Morrell appeared in front them with Danny following close behind, thank fuck. She stretched out her stump and her hand quickly crawled to her, connecting by the wrist while Danny kicked the legs out of the barely standing Whittemorian. He clambered to the floor like a bag of stones.

“You! Human!” Derek barked. There wasn’t much time left. “Get him out offff here. In ffffact all of you, ssssscram!”

“Ju...st-”

There was movement somewhere in the back of the dock. And then there was shooting. Great. Just great.

Morrell nodded to Danny and bolted for the control room where the shooters were covering behind the panels. They landed a few hits on her as she ran, but she just kept going on. Those must have been some very lovely illegal upgrades of her outer layer. Derek was almost impressed. And surprised he actually has the brain capacity to even notice it.

“Come on, Stiles!” Danny urged, grabbing his biceps. “We gotta go, now!”

Stiles looked back at Derek. “Bu-t...”

They honestly didn’t have time for this bullshit. Derek’s body was immobilized, his wound leaking between his paralyzed fingers… the only good thing about the situation was that he actually couldn’t feel any pain anymore. But then again… he would rather feel himself dying that not know how close to it he was.

His head was starting to feel more and more dizzy though. That meant unconsciousness wasn’t far off. He needed them to fucking leave before it would be too late.

“You amussse me, boy,” he hissed, bringing up a sardonic smile to his lips. “You’d dare to disssshonor my misssion by getting caught? There isss no ressspect in humansss.”

Even that didn’t move with Stiles. He tore his biceps from Danny’s hold and grabbed the scarf the other Whittemorian had around his neck.

Derek tried again. “I won’t get my sssalary if you don’t return to your ssship,” he hissed petulantly.

“If yo...die,” Stiles retorted, moving his numb hand off his wound to press the scarf against it. “Noth-ing...”

Derek closed his eyes. He couldn’t keep them open anymore, the edges of his vision were starting to blur, but he couldn’t do anything about it if…

“Please, Sssstiles…,” he whispered weakly, “I can’t-”

The pressure against his wound weakened and then it suddenly disappeared altogether.

Derek opened one eye and saw Morrell. Her arm was ripped off her body and stuck between her teeth. She was pulling Stiles out of there with strength he couldn’t really fight against. The last thing he saw were Stiles’ eyes looking his way still and a confused look on his face. Probably because he never heard a Whittemorian beg.

Well… he had worse things to worry about than the integrity of his shape at that particular moment.

 

~o~

 

Derek tried to shift out of the Whittemorian, he really did, but he soon realized he was at his tether. He wasn’t as good as Cora, he never was. He couldn’t shift back at forth a dozen times. He couldn’t control it like his mom used to, he couldn’t shape in a perfect detail as his dad used to… he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop thinking of his family, his pack. They were so much better than him. They deserved to be well and alive...and he… he deserved _this_.

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t feel his body. Maybe he was already dead. His head felt light. He wanted to cry but… not even that was possible in this state, his glands weren’t able to respond to his receptors with the poison enveloping his body.

What would Peter think if he saw him like this? He could kick his body and order him to get the fuck out of his head. And so… as simple as that sounded, Derek did.

He forced his body to at least exchange the liquids, to change the poison-infused blood into the usual green concoction of the Whittemorian race. The paralysis slowly lifted from his body and he was able to bring his hand back against the bloodied scarf and stop the steady flow of blood.

But he couldn’t do anything more, he was out of energy. The previous shifts cost him too much, not to mention he also had to force in some serious organism repairs and change the volume of his shape. He had no more energy to actually create anything new and he needed that for his human shift.

He lifted his head weakly and looked out of the shuttle, trying to nurture a vague hope of finding sustenance in his direct vicinity. There was nothing organic around he could use. Nothing but the paralyzed Whittemorian.

Derek made a face. He threw the idea to the back of his brain and then brought it up again. It was not like he actually had a choice if he wanted to heal his wound and get the fuck off here in one piece.

Except, he looked back to the pod, to the slime sliding down its sides where Stiles climbed out of it. Maybe...

He pulled at his legs, planting his soles against the surface of the floor. He pushed and pushed - and so managed to slowly crawl to the pod.

The slime didn’t look any more appetizing than before and by all means he shouldn’t be risking it, but eating the other Whittemorian would have been even worse. And so he opened his mouth and let the disgusting mess of a whatever-the-slime-was drizzle right inside.

It tasted… Derek didn’t want to think of the taste.

The churning in his stomach didn’t make it any better either. He hoped will be able to hold it down long enough for it to be usable to heal his wound and fuel his next shift.

 

~o~

 

Just as he had thought. The slime was actually some sort of a concoction that was supposed to supply the imprisoned individuals with all the needed sustenance.

The substance seemed to have been digested faster than he had anticipated and he was shifting before he was done slurping another load of it.

So the universe didn’t hate him after all.

Not entirely anyways.

He decided not to waste time with contemplating how sentient the vast universe could be and how much of a involvement it had in his life and diverted his energy into the next shift.

Once he was fully human, he raced out of the shuttle, ignoring the fallen Whittemorian and the eerie silence in the docks. It would seem all the attackers that were previously hiding in the control room were all dead. He didn’t really  feel like checking in on them, but judging by the smell of burned substances, Morrell did a number on them with some sort of a laser weapon. He really didn’t want to know what and where she got it from.

And so he held his breath and ran across the dock to the fake maintenance door. It was askew, hanging from its frame haphazardly.

Derek ducked and squeezed through. The metal scratched his bare skin, but he didn’t bother to look for clothes. And maybe he should have, because as soon as he entered the official docking site, his hearing was assaulted with a mess of chaotic sounds.

He took a deep breath in and looked around to get a feel for the whole situation.

The dock was in mayhem.

There were life form scattering to and fro, shots fired to and fro, screams and yelling coming from each side and above all a whole lot of smoke and gases everywhere. Derek couldn’t make out where the danger lurked. He actually didn’t even understand what the whole commotion was about.

And so he just ran for their shuttle hoping nothing too lethal would hit him. That was the most logical choice for him anyways.

Before he could reach it though, he stumbled over a body splayed on the floor. He hit the nearby shuttle. Good thing too because the path he was about to take was suddenly full of laser beams.

He took a better cover and looked down at the body. It was a female android sculpted into a human shape. Her head was busted open and… something grabbed his shin.

He looked over.

“Stiles…?!”

Stiles was crouching down next to what appeared to be the remains of Morrel’s shell. Derek lowered himself down too.

“You okay?” Derek asked, looking around for any sort of danger.

“Yea… bu-t,” he croaked. He put his hand on Morrel’s busted head and pursed his lips. He then proceeded to pick at the burned-off wires sticking out from her face.

The laser beams were getting closer and closer, their angle indicating the shooters were moving around to come to level with them. It wouldn’t take long and the lasers would have them surrounded. Derek didn’t see a way for them to reach the shuttle anymore.

“Danny?” he asked.

Stiles just shook his head.

“Dead?”

He shook his head again busy trying to connect something within Morrel’s face. His fingers were trembling.

The lasers were moving closer.

“We can’t possibly stay here, the shuttle won’t be able to cover us forever,” Derek said.

Stiles ignored him, fiddling with the wires. His fingers were shaking so hard the red wire actually slipped from them twice while Derek was watching. And he wasn’t watching long.

“Stiles,” Derek spoke urgently. “We gotta-”

There was a small explosion on their left. What the actual fuck was going on? This couldn’t be just because they extracted Stiles, could it?

“Stiles,” Derek said again, reaching out to shake his shoulder. “We gotta run.”

Stiles just shook his head, leaning over Morrel.

“No, leave her. We gotta-!”

Another explosion on their left. The lasers were closing in from the right. That left only one route to go.

He grabbed Stiles’ biceps and pulled at it.

“Let’s go!”

“No!” Stiles yelled pulling back. He wiggled his arm around too, but Derek’s hold was too strong to shake. “Ca-n’t lea… her! Fix-”

“No time for that, come on.”

“You-”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Ca-n’t…” He grabbed her remaining arm. Derek didn’t know where her other one went. “Take he-r...fix…”

“Stiles for fuck’s sake, she is too heavy. She will just slow us down.”

“T-ake…”

“No!” he grabbed both of his shoulders and shook him as much as he could, hoping it would bring some sense back to him. “Do you wanna die? Do you? Because you will if we don’t run _now_. Stop fucking around. You can’t die! Not before I get you back to the Beacon!”

That seemed to help a bit, but not too much. _Motherfucker_.

“You want your dad to bury another body? Suit yourself. I won’t-”

Derek didn’t even try to finish the sentence. He just got up and-

“Wai-t!”

Stiles got up too and kicked Morrel’s head in. He kicked a second time and the side casing flew off. He kicked a third time and something inside of it cracked.

Stiles bent over and extracted something from her insides.

“Let’s g-o,” he said then just when the lasers were upon them.

Derek grabbed his arm and bolted for the fake maintenance door, hoping the smoke from the explosions would cover them well enough.

 

~o~

 

The illegal dock was still rather silent.

Stiles made it in without getting hit or hurt. Derek made it in without getting hit or hurt as well. He was starting to appreciate the small things in this cycle. He really was. Still, he didn’t want to stand around waiting for somebody to reach them and “fix that”.

He pulled Stiles along to the cargo shuttle he had abandoned just a moment ago. Ignoring the Whittemorian just as he had before - he was still pretty much paralyzed and probably super confused as to what was happening - he climbed into the stupid shuttle. _Again_ . _Yes_.

Stiles stopped next to the pod, looking around concerned, studying the green blood stains on the floor and Derek wished he could tell him to not worry, _he was fine._

But that was when they (whoever that was) caught up with them and the dock was lit up by shooting lasers.

Derek jumped at the control panel at the front of the shuttle and hit the needed buttons to start the engines. They shuddered to preheat and the back door was slowly starting up again.

Stiles appeared next to him, grabbing his arm.

“Da-nny!” he said urgently, but Derek just shook his head.

“He will have to get out on his own.”

“The fu-ck...no!”

Derek looked at Stiles. Really looked at him. They were losing precious moments to have this fucking conversation but it needed to be done. Obviously. Stiles was still clinging to his hand with a bit too much force and for a brief heartbeat, Derek wished he was more like Peter.

Usually Derek was the one to insist on getting back to save whoever needed to be saved and Peter was the one pulling him selfishly away.

Playing the other was really hard, he realized. He didn’t know what to say.

“I need your help,” he admitted lamely in the end. There was so much more he could have said, but it just didn’t pass through his lips. He wished Peter was here. He always knew what to say and do in these kind of situations.

Stiles seemed to have gotten it anyways. He gave a short nod and sat down at the copilot’s seat, punching a few more buttons. A red signal flashed on the holo in front of them signaling the whole market was on the lockdown but their shuttle was listed as an exception to that rule. So the defences let them pass same as they’d let them pass when landing before.

Derek sat down too, grabbed the manual drive and guinded them out into the vast space.

 

~o~

 

It wasn’t much better out in space, albeit at least they got rid of the suffocating and limited environment presented by the market domes. Still, a cargo shuttle wouldn’t bring them far out and once the paralysed Whittemorian came back to his senses… well let’s just say Derek would have prefered to not be occupying an enemy cargo ship.

The shuttle shuddered for like the upteenth time and it wasn’t because they were leaving the atmosphere. At least the artificial gravity held.

The holo blinked and a sterall map appeared on it, alerting them of the chaotic traffic around them. The computer automatically recounted the most comfortable way to the research facility. _No thanks_ , Derek thought, leaning over to delete the preset destination with maybe a bit more force than was really necessary..

Anything that would help him stay calm at the sight of a dozen fighters waiting for them out in the open.

Another pop up appeared.

“Incoming hail,” the interface said.

“Shit,” Derek muttered.

“We go-tta-” Stiles started reaching over to cancel the call, but Derek slapped his hand away, reached for the headphone chip in the control panel and stuck it to his throat.

The stellar map confirmed there was a second cargo shuttle similar to their own approaching. The fighters were staying behind for now. _Good._

Derek hit the hail button and started to tap the chip gently. He hoped the sound interference would help disguise the lack of proper vocal cords.

“Xiiiim, you bassstard!” he hissed, feeling his throat protest lightly. “Get the ffffuck offf my way.”

There was a crack in the transmission and the other Whittemorian hissed back at him. “Sissss, I ttttthought-” They didn’t get to discover what the other pilot thought though, because there was a sudden beeping on their screen announcing a wave of shuttles departing from the market planet.

Oh, someone must have gotten the main dock to open and let them all out. _Nice timing._

“Sssssscan for a long disssstance IA old-ssschoool trashhh!” he yelled into the chip. “Ttthree lifffeffforms and a fucker artificcccial!”

“Copy that,” came back at them from the Whittemorian.

Derek could feel Stiles’ eyes on him, but he ignored him for now. Instead he grabbed the manual and turned them in the direction of the fleeting wave.

The other cargo ship joined them not long after with the whole fighter fleet. They were hiding right under the candlestick, Peter would have been proud.

“Targettt locked,” came from the transmission. A dot on the map light up. Stiles reached over to tap at it and the cargo ship scanned it.

“Da-nny,” he mouthed.

Derek just nodded, pulling back from the crowd. The fighters flew ahead of them together with the other cargo shuttle.

It wasn’t like Xim the Whittemorian needed to join the fighters, his shuttle probably had no weapons on board, same as theirs, but a Whittemorian wouldn’t be able to help himself to at least witness the possible carnage.

Derek terminated their connection, pulling the chip off his throat and before he could maneuver the shuttle further away, Stiles grabbed his arm.

“W-ait… wha… Da-nny!”

“He’ll be fine,” Derek said, jerking his arm. Stiles was holding onto it too tightly though. This was happening a bit too much lately.

“Figh-ters...he won’t..stand a chan-ce!”

“He will if he plays it smart enough. There is a pin waiting not too far away,” Derek explained, prying the fingers off him. He reached to the holo tapping away at it. “Do you know how to screen us from them?”

Stiles just started at him in utter shock.

“Yo-”

“Stiles, we need that screen right now,” he said, pushing at an adjuncted holo. He moved it over to Stiles. “If we don’t disappear now, Danny’s struggle will be all for nothing. There must be something usable in the bios, but I know shit about those things.”

Stiles pursed his lips and glanced at the map on the main holo. “You-ll... let him d-ie… to sa-ve your-self?”

“He won’t die,” Derek said firmly. “He is way ahead of the shuttle wave, on the straight path to the pin. The crowd will cover for him if they choose to shoot and he knows that. See? He is keeping within blind spots. We would be stupid not to use it. Give him some credit, he is a good pilot.”

Stiles nodded, tearing his eyes from the main holo. “A sc-reen mig-ht be impo-ss-” he started saying typing in stuff Derek didn’t really understand. It looked like he got in in record time though and was already browsing through the programming when Derek turned them around, away from the conflict.

 

~o~

 

Gravitational slingshot brought them further away than they could have hoped in such a short-distance shuttle, but it still wasn’t enough. They needed the screen.

“It’s-..ugh no-t a scr-een, bu-t...” Stiles struggled around his hurt throat, his nimble fingers tapping away at the holo. He was so deep in the system, Derek would never even attempt to open those sort of formulas.

“Will it stop them from finding us?” he asked. “Just while we get a hang of some pin to tow us away.”

Stiles hummed in affirmation. He glanced up at the main holo briefly without a pause in typing and then returned back to his coding.

Derek couldn’t help but checking on Danny as well. It would seem the fighters started to fire on the escaping shuttles, terminating them one by one. The illegal research facility obviously really didn’t want any sort of info about them getting out of the system.

It was too late for that though.

Danny was still a long way ahead of them. He passed right through an asteroid belt, which slowed the rest of them down and rondevouved with their Whittemorian pinner. Only a few more moments and he would be out of the system.

“O-k...do-ne, I gue-ss,” Stiles said, sliding his forefinger over the screen.

The shuttle shuddered, the engines cutting off together with most of the main functions. The light inside dimmed.

“I won-t...no-t for long,” Stiles tried to explain, coughing a bit. “Bu-t I… issu-ed… exclu-sive pin con-tract.  Somebo-dy will-”

Derek nodded. “So we wait now.”

Stiles nodded back and they both watched as Danny’s dot disappeared safely into the vortex.

And then the main holo went black too.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Still no art, but I am slowly getting better so hope to whip up my wacom soon again. In the meantime I am using the time to stock up on more chapters, so win-win :) I might post the next one sooner... let's see how it goes.
> 
> EDIT: Pic available now! :)
> 
> __________

 

Derek was dozing off on the floor next to the pod when he heard a silent tap-tap sound. He opened one eye to see Stiles walk into the back of the cargo ship and then closed it again. He was too tired, too fucking tired… but at the same time worried to fall asleep with a stranger this close to him. He wished to be back in his cabin already.

Stiles sighed and there was a gentle scratching noise.

“You okay?” Derek asked.

Stiles just hummed, not answering. Derek opened his eye again and looked to the left at the huddled form on the other side of the pod.

“You should eat some of that slime from the pod if your throat is still bothering you,” he said.

Stiles looked up from over the pod, his nose scrunched up in disgust. “W-wha..gh?”

Derek nodded, his eyes closed again. “It’s very nutritious, plus has some healing properties,” he explained. “I guess it could also help if you bathed in it again, but… that might take longer then.”

“Yu t-tellin me.... to eat… ugh d-dat?” came from behind the pod.

Instead of answering, Derek sat up leaned over to the pod and dipped his fingers into the concoction inside. Once they were fairly covered, he lifted them to him mouth and licked it off. “Yes.”

Stiles scrunched his nose even more. It looked rather ridiculous. “Ewh...dud-” He coughed.

“Come on,” Derek said, beckoning him closer. “Eat some. Trust me, it will help.” He was speaking from his own experience after all.

“Yo-u… realiz-.. mah,” he started to say, but was interrupted by a nasty cough again. So instead he just gestured to his naked body.

Derek just shrugged. “I’ve eaten worse, if truth be told.” Indeed he did. Even when in Whittemorian form, the slime seemed like a gift from the universe itself. Anything beats a living, but paralysed Whittemorian. “And this tuff is actually kinda good,” he added.

Stiles scoffed, but leaned a bit closer to sniff at it. It didn’t smell like anything. He looked up at Derek, unconvinced.

Derek just lifted his eyebrows knowing a look like that was enough.

“Al… righ-”

Stiles dipped his own fingers into the slime, made a face and then sucked the fingers into his mouth. He didn’t look all too happy about that, but it was apparently not as bad as he had imagined, because within a few heartbeats, he was scooping up more of it.

Derek laid back down with a small smile on his lips. “Told you.”

“How did yo-u know?” Stiles asked, sounding a bit surprised that the rasp in his voice was slowly disappearing.

“Saw something similar to this on Malori,” he lied promptly.

Stiles just hummed and for a while the space was filled only with his careful slurping. Derek almost fell asleep to it, but a spoken word dipped deep into his subconscious and pulled him back up to the surface.

“What?” he asked, blinking unhappily.

“I said, dude, now that we have time to address the important issues, why are you even naked? Was that a part of the infiltration plan  or something?”

Derek hoped the sudden silence would just make him look too sleepy to answer right away. In reality, he was trying to think up a reason for him to be in this state. _Ah_.

“They caught me, wanted to stuck me in a pod too,” he said in the end. It sounded rather plausible at this point, right? It wasn’t like Stiles knew exactly what happened.

“Oh,” he just said. That didn’t exactly convey what he thought of his lie, but Derek guessed he got a free pass for it.

Silence. And then he said. “Sorry about that.”

Derek sighed. “I’ve had worse. Was glad for the distraction Morrell caused though. Wouldn’t wanna end up in one of these fuckers.” Derek kicked the pod. It was a weak kick, but still.

“Myea, it’s…,” Stiles sighed and leaned back from the pod. Derek lost the sight of his face. Probably for the good though. It seemed too private to watch.

He closed his eyes again, fully intending to go back to his dozing, when Stiles spoke up again.

“So what happened... ? After?”

Derek looked up at the ceiling. He needed to sort out his thoughts, filter what really happened and what he told to the crew. The info needed to fit like a puzzle and cover the real truth.

“They couldn’t sell me,” he said, which was actually true. Now, to mix in a bit of lying.  “Nobody wanted to buy a human.”

“Ah, good for you,” came in a reply.

“They just flew me back to Earth, all the way to the docks. I waited for the Cap- Sheriff, then explained… we made a rescue plan and here I am. I guess.”

Stiles snorted. “That was awfully detailed.”

“What more do you want to know?”

“How did you find me?”

Derek sighed. “No idea, Boyd got us the coordinates somehow.”

Stiles hummed under his breath and then he said: “I barely remember much after they sold me, you know. They… fucked me up and then stuck me into some sort of a pin pod.” Derek should be glad about that, shouldn’t he? He was worried, that Stiles might have-

“There was this life form…”

 _Maybe he did…?_ Derek remained silent, waiting for whatever memory Stiles was chasing to materialize.

“I don’t know,” he said at last, but it didn’t end there. “I was out of it in the pod, back on the Moon. I just… I wanted somebody to come… rip through the door and fucking… fuck up the pod and… I guess I somehow…”

Silence.

“Do you know what a werewolf is?” he asked.

“No.”

“It’s like this stories humans used to have, like make-believe, right? About humans being compelled by the Moon… like… humans during full moon… they were forced to change into a rabbit half-wolf, half-human sort of…” Derek could see his arms rising over the pod to gesture some sort of a shape, but he was too busy listening to register it fully.

“Wolf is like this… dog-like… well, no. Huge, furry, four-legged…”

“Did you see one there?” Derek asked, fishing for more information. He needed to make sure. “This… werewolf? Are they real then? Are they-”

“Well, no, I don’t know,” Stiles said, lost in thought. “I don’t think it was a human. I think… or I guess it was just the drugs messing with my head. I mean, did you… see someone like that, after…?”

Derek shook his head. “I only saw humans.”

Stiles laughed. “Myea, I thought… eh I thought some sort of a supernatural creature had come to save me. When in the end it was a freaking Whittemorian, would you believe?”

“They ain’t so bad, you know.”

Stiles sighed. “No, I guess they aren’t.”

There was soft noise on the other side of the pod, Stiles was probably lying down too. The silence of the shuttle lulled Derek into a doze again. Except Stiles wasn’t done talking. That seemed to have been a reoccuring theme in their conversations. He should have been annoyed, but in a weird way, he was just about okay with it.

“Derek?”

“Yeah?”

A pause. And then: “Thanks. I-... I am glad you guys came to get me.”

Derek cracked his eye open and looked over at him. The pod was of course in the way so he didn’t see anything else than the crystal mirroring his own face at him, but still.

“Me too,” he admitted to himself.

Silence enveloped them again and it might be Derek fell into a very shallow sleep, because the next thing he knew Stiles was once again in the middle of a question.

Derek didn’t catch more than: “... ask?”

He rolled over to his side, sliding his arm under his head. “Ask what?”

“What they did to me…,” came a tentative reply.

Derek blinked the sleep off his eyes, listening in. Stiles was scratching some part of his skin. The rash must have been getting worse.

Derek pursed his lips. “You shouldn’t think of that now,” he said sternly. The words Peter used to repeat to him at least a hundred times before.  “It’s over.”

“Still…”

Derek sighed, closing his eyes again. It would be better for Stiles to fall asleep as well. He was probably tired too.

“Get some rest, Stiles,” he muttered, letting the sleep carry him out of that conversation for good.

 

~o~

 

His skin tingled. Chilly fingertips were sliding slowly up his chest, but he didn’t feel their coldness, only a scorching warmth spreading all over his nerves, seeping into his insides, burning the last remains of his logic. They slid around his neck, pressing against the back. He couldn’t help but close his eyes as the wave of tingling sweept through his body.

It was forbidden. It was new and exciting and he wanted to taste it all. But he wasn’t allowed to. Not yet. He didn’t know how to control this weirdly bold body. He didn’t know how to feel with these deprived nerves… it felt as if he wasn’t really there with her, but at the same time her touches were too good to be a simple dream.

He took a deep breath in, disappointed by the lack of smell he could perceive. He wanted to smell all of her, wanted to feel her, wanted to do the same to her, make her melt under his fingers and rise up into a blissful pleasure together.

She leaned in closer and pressed her lips against his, licking them almost immediately. Derek didn’t know what else to do, but to open them and taste her. She tasted like ashes. The heat around wasn’t really pleasant now that he thought about it, not at all, it was burning him, the smog was suffocating him, making his feeble human eyes unable to perceive, his brain unable to understand.

He stumbled up and looked around.

Fire. Fire everywhere.

Their den was burning. He needed to get out. No, wait. He looked deeper into the forest. Strained his weak human ears. He couldn’t hear anything else than the vicious cracking of the fire. Its heat was burning him, but something in the back of his head didn’t let it register.

He made a step deeper into the fire… he made another and another, forcing his legs to run, passing the burning trees, the wood crumbling in front of his eyes.

How long was he out of it?

How long was he…?

And more importantly… where? How? How did this even…? He didn’t want to let himself realize the truth although he knew it from the moment he woke up in that clearing. He knew it. He knew who was responsible for this catastrophe. He knew… he knew…

“Mom?” he yelled, his voice not his own. She won’t know him like this. She won’t recognize him.

He stopped and tried to shift to his own form, but he couldn’t.

“Mom!!” he yelled. “Dad? Laura!! Laura!?” He yelled but nobody answered. The forest remained quiet and yet… and yet it was so loud Derek could barely think.

“Corra!” he yelled, forcing his legs to move again. These legs, those fragile fucking human hairless spider-legs that wouldn’t give him enough speed. He pushed them, coerced his muscles… but it was hot, it was so hot and he couldn’t… he couldn’t.

And then his eyes caught them. Saw the burning mass in front of him and he couldn’t breathe. _He couldn’t breathe_. Not because of the smog gagging him, not because the air was too hot, not because…

“No…,” he muttered in disbelief. He didn’t actually say it out loud, his mouth just shaped into the sound, but nothing came out.

“...no…”

He reached out, somehow hoping that they were just… joking around, trying out a new shape, a new… charred, horridly grotesque sort of life form… that looked like… looked like…

“Derek!” somebody yelled grabbing his shoulder.

“Peter…?”

It was him. Well and alive.

Peter would know what to do. His uncle always knew what to do. He always helped him to get out of the mess he’d made. Peter would definitely...

“Help them,” Derek croaked, his throat dry. He looked up at his uncle, his eyes hazy with tears. “Help them.”

Peter said something he didn’t quite catch and shook his shoulder, but he knew what his uncle said, he knew it even if he didn’t really hear it. “We have to go. We have to go, come on.”

He couldn’t though, could he?

How could he…?

He didn’t know this would happen.

He didn’t know.

“I didn’t know…” he wheezed out, looking at them again. He couldn’t stop looking at them. His eyes were glued to them.

“I didn’t know,” he repeated, but Peter wasn’t listening. He just kept pulling him away. And then they were running. And then they were huddling somewhere and Derek was crying and Peter was stroking his skin, hushing him, whispering soothing things.

He couldn’t understand the words, but he let them carry him back into the depths of the sleep once again.

 

~o~

 

Derek woke up to  a loud beep coming from the front of the shuttle. Considering their predicament, it couldn’t have been a sign of anything other than trouble.

He bolted up, stumbling to the pilot’s seat. Stiles was sitting in his own, merrilly typing away into the small adjuncted holo. His other hand was lazily scratching over the expanses of his reddened cheeks.

On the big holo in front of him, Derek could see a mass of ships dispersed around the solar system around them.

“Wha…?”

“Don’t worry, it’s a controlled ping,” Stiles explained, waving his hand. “Just checking in on the situation around us. I was paranoid.”

“But-”

Stiles slid his fingers over the holo, enlarging the dot that had to be the research facility. He then slid his fingers over the hollow of his arm, which looked really inflated already.  “It’s fine, they couldn’t care less. After Danny and some other ships escaped, they started to mass-evacuate.”

Derek looked up at the scheme on the big screen. It wasn’t in real time. It was just the view of one ping. Still. He wanted to ask if they are in any way able to trace the ping back to them, but figured Stiles was bouncing it off to not give away much of anything, so he decided not to ask in the end.

So instead he sighed, leaning into the door frame. He felt like he didn’t sleep at all. Did he even?

“How long was I…?” He wondered aloud.

“Two cycles-ish… I mean this junk has no time,” Stiles said, tapping the holo in front of him. He then pointed at the main screen and showed him a planet with two small moons orbiting around it. “They went around twice, so two cycles, but guess that’s somewhere around a cycle back at the Beacon. Hard to say really.”

Derek nodded, even though Stiles could probably not see that reaction. Whatever. “And the pin auction?”

“Uhhh, no answers yet,” Stiles said, scratching his chest. “But… _but_ there wouldn’t be any anyways, I didn’t open the channels ever since I sent the ouroboros message out. So we will either find out during the next ping or see them approach once they arrive. I will boost the systems then and you could pin us.”

Just by saying that, Derek could feel the pressure of his previous lies upon him. He had said to Danny he’d never piloted before and just a cycle ago, he was driving them out of the market dome like it was his second nature. Shit.

Derek glanced over at Stiles, but he sensed no suspicion from him. He seemed too busy with his holo.

Well...

If Derek had the strength to deal with it, he would have tried to figure out a new lie to cover up the previous uncovered one, but… honestly… now that he knew they were relatively safe, his brain opened up the memory of his nightmare again.

It felt like a punch in the throat.

It wasn’t a nightmare per se. The monsters in nightmares were not real, but this one… Kate. She was real.

Suddenly Derek didn’t feel just as comfortable in his skin as he did before. He felt all clammy and disgusting.

“I uh...” His breath got stuck in his throat. Stiles looked up at him, tapping his neck absentmindedly. He didn’t look any better either. His skin was burning red at some places, the rash was spreading...

Derek swallowed his anxiety. At least for the moment. It wouldn’t do any good to stress the situation any more than it was necessary.  “I’d grab a solitary then.”

Stiles eyed him for a bit and then shrugged, returning back to his holo. “Sure.”

“Don’t-”

“Honestly, duuude, I’ve seen your dick already, so what possibly more could I spy on?” Stiles said, his voice a bit louder than before. He waved his hand not looking at him. “Enjoy your wanking session.”

Derek didn’t say anything to that, he just nodded again and walked into the back of the cargo. Before the door closed though, he caught a last shout from Stiles: “Do me a favor and use that slime, dude. I don’t wanna have to stare at an indian burn on your dick the whole way back!”

And with that, the door closed, leaving Derek alone.

 

~o~

 

Derek turned his back to the closed door and looked around the darkness. It was almost as dark as they used to have in their den. It felt familiar. It felt comfortable. It felt like home.

Except it wasn't. Not really. And it never will be.

Derek knew that. Derek learned to accept that, but the hard reality of his nightmare wouldn’t let it slide just as easily as his trained mind would.

Was there ever gonna be a time where he could think back on that fateful night and not feel… all of this? He wished for it, but knew it couldn't ever be like that. He deserved to live with it. He deserved to suffer the consequences of his stupid…

 _Enough_ , he told himself and sank into a crouch.

_Now, breathe._

He took a deep breath in lifting his hand in a reaching motion. He willed the song of his pack fill his ears, their voices joining in an endless howl and felt his muscles shift with it, following it’s pattern, elongating, changing position… taking him back to his roots.

Once his arm reached the needed size, he leaned forward pressing it against the floor in a ritualistic motion. He moved his other arm, following a trained pattern, letting the muscles envelope the feeble human limb, giving the bones the freedom to snap back in their original position.

He leaned over into the arms then flexing his back up. It grew, the spine popping as new vertebrae sprouted within it.

His pelvis shifted lower, creating the space for new organs within his body. His small heart split in two and then in four, beating in an erratic yet calming rhythm.

This was the rhythm that filled all of him when he was roaming the forests of his home planet. This was the rhythm that he could feel from his pack when sleeping in their midsts. This was the rhythm of their joined voices. The rhythm of all things lost, of all things that couldn’t be forgotten.

His legs, strong and agile, were ready to leap just as the ritual demanded, but he forced them to hold back, he forced them to just stretch to their full lengths and then pressed himself against the floor.

He closed his eyes and let his face slide right off into the familiar shapes and forms.

And all the while he moved, the motions copying the ancient ritual of change, of the shift. A shift the first mother granted them. Of what every mother after her shared with her children. Mother after mother. Changing. Coercing. Molding them into what they were now.

Shifters. Able to survive through so much more than any other known life form in the known universe. Persistent and strong.

And even with all the mothers gone now. And even with his mother being the last one in the thousands of mothers born into this universe… even so, Derek could feel their presence within his ritual. He could feel their gift shaping him, giving him the fluidness he needed, filling the emptiness inside him, reminding him of who he was.

As fur covered his entire body, he reached the final stages of the ritual. He was once again back to himself, back to who he was when he was born. When his mother brought him into this universe.

Say… who was he to taint her gift of life? Who was he to let millions of voices die within him. Who was he to forget, to despise, to fear the mere thought of his pack? Who was he to let the Hunters change him like this?

The only gift of change he would and could ever accept was the one from the ancient Mother… carried through generation after generation. Nurtured… cherished… lived. Hunters couldn’t change him, couldn’t distort him. They Couldn’t even if he was the last one in the whole wide universe.

Because a one was never a one. Because there has never been such a number in their language. And albeit he really was just _one_ right then, he was a million, he was whole and he would never ever be what they tried to force him to be.

 

~o~

 

“So, who’s Peter?”

Derek has just sat back down on the pilot’s seat, feeling fresh and all kinds of reborn after his ritual, but Stiles’ question made him pause before his butt could even come in contact with the seat. He mentally shook it off and forced himself to sit down properly.

The silence grew.

Stiles turned around in his seat, his nails ranking over the reddened skin on his neck. He didn’t seem to be aware of the damage his nails were doing.

“You shouldn’t scratch that,” he said, gesturing to his neck.

Stiles pursed his lips and tore his hand off his neck. Only to put in on his knee and continue with the same treatment.

Derek lifted his eyebrows.

“Don’t change the topic,” Stiles exclaimed, but took his hand off the rash. He folded his arms over his chest.

Derek refused to give him and answer.

“I didn’t see a Peter in your file.” Stiles continued.

“You went through my file?” he countered.

Stiles just snorted and leaned back into his seat “Are you telling me you didn’t? I bet you had us sort-of memorized by the time you started working at Root.”

He wasn’t wrong per se. Still.

Stiles wasn’t happy with his silence. “Oh, so it’s okay to want to know about my shit, but when it comes to your highness, no no, we mustn’t ask. How dare we inquire, how dare we-”

“My uncle,” Derek said before he could realize what he was doing. And once he’d shared the information, it was too late to take it back. It shouldn’t have been that easy to get the information out of him. It should have been guarded and triple locked… and yet, the simple act of asking made Derek comply. Being around Stiles was dangerous. He didn’t know when to shut up and somehow, the same behavior got imprinted onto Derek as well.

_Stop talking._

“Oh,” Stiles said. “I didn’t know you had an uncle. What happened to him?”

 _A lot_.

“Nothing,” Derek simplified.

“He wasn’t in your file though.”

“It’s complicated,” he supplied curtly.

Stiles nodded, though why was a mystery. Maybe he understood at some level that it was hard for Derek to share more of his life.

“You two are close though.”

“Yeah,” Derek said. That much he could say.

Stiles grinned up at him. “See, was that so hard?”

Derek sighed. “Stiles.”

Of course it was hard. It would have been much easier to just say everything, but he couldn’t do that. It was dangerous, too dangerous. Especially after what happened to his pack. This kind of knowledge was too dangerous to share.

They looked at each other for a bit, as if the eye-contact would make the one talk and the other to stop asking things that weren’t supposed to be asked.

“Well, I was just wondering how much more intimate it can get. More than two naked dudes in an enclosed space, I mean,” Stiles said, grinning.

Derek sighed again and looked away. “It was just a stupid dream. There is nothing to share about it.” He thought about it for a bit and then added. “Or about my life.”

Stiles hummed, his fingers scratching the insides of his elbows again. Derek leaned over and grabbed his wrist to pry it off his skin.

“Just a stupid dream wouldn’t do so much damage,” Stiles muttered, letting him pull at his wrist. Derek stopped in his tracks, leaned over Stiles, holding his wrist.

“What…?”

Stiles shook him off quickly, laughing nervously. “I said… if you wanted to cuddle you could have just said so… not pretended to have a horrible nightmare, yanno.”

Derek still didn’t move, he was trying to think back to the time he had the nightmare. Now that it’s been mentioned, he could vaguely remember a gentle reassuring touch...

“I am quite the cuddler,” Stiles said, winking at him.

Derek pulled away, leaning back into his seat. “That… wasn’t really necessary. I was fine.”

Stiles snorted. “Well… it seemed to help so…” He shrugged.

Derek looked away taking a deep breath in. He wasn’t really embarrassed… he wasn’t. It was just slightly weird. But still. Stiles did do him a service in a state of discomfort so… and he didn’t really have to do that, so…

So...

“Alright, thanks,” he said curtly.

“You’re welcome,” Stiles said. “I reckon that makes us even. You did save me back at the docks. This was kinda the same.”

Derek frowned. “Yeah, no.”

“Awh, come on. I only did it to get even! You’re telling me all that effort was useless? Seriously?”

“Stiles.”

His hand shot up. “Wait, hold that thought. It’s time for the third ping.”

He reached over to his holo and brought up the bios. Tapping n a few things, the main holo in front of them lit up into a…

“Oh shit,” Stiles breathed.

Oh shit indeed. The holo was a battlefield. Ships in a very neat formation on one side were approaching the illegal asteroid. And the enemy’s forces were scattered all around them, not giving up that easily, they must have called back the fighter fleet and now… shit was going down.

“Boot us back up!” Derek insisted, grabbing the steering rod. “We are right in the middle of it.” It was a miracle that they haven’t been hit yet, drifting right at the front line like that.

“On it!” Stiles started to tap away and within a few moments, the ship was back online - the control panel powered up, the engines preheating very quickly and the holo in front of them supplied a real-time footage of what was happening all around them.

Ships were approaching from each side, firing at each other, but the ones in front of them, the ones coming out of the vortex still… were something Derek had never seen before. They were… they looked like small portable galaxies, with stars flying all around them in varied shapes, sliding through the vessel itself even.

Derek felt overwhelmed. He pulled at the steering rod to flee away, but Stiles stopped him. “Wait!” He banged the control panel to get his attention. “Wait, that’s my people. The ouroboros must have led them here.”

“Humans?” Derek frowned. “But how-”

Stiles looked at him funnily. “You do realize the word “people” doesn’t just go for humans, right?” He brought up the hailing sequence, typing in something Derek didn’t understand. It looked like.. some sort of knitting pattern for scarves.

“It has all kinds of connotations…. like, well, in this case it would be our Nano friends.”

One of the ships at the back of the formation split away and boosted up it’s engines to get ahead of the Nano fleet. There was fire all around, but this one’s shield were boosted strong. It headed right for them.

But other things were heading their way too. Mainly a lot of fucking beams of condensed heat. The fighters were targeting them.

“Incoming!” Derek yelled, turning around to hit the door switch. It shut close just as the beam hit them. The explosion at the back of their ship rocked the shuttle like a giant quake. The door held though. Except… if Derek guessed right, their whole cargo space was just ripped out of shuttle.

All the power went out in an instant..

“Shit,” they both said, their curse getting lost in the darkness.

Derek looked at Stiles.

“I’m-” he started to say, but he didn’t get to say anything more, because another beam reached the wreck of a shuttle they were both huddled in. And there was nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Slowly catching up with the title pics again, chapter 12 done, yay! I mean, my eczema still sucks, but yeah... I gotta try not to dwell on that too much. (Let's ignore the fact that it's actually in the fic lol.) More importantly, thank you all for the wonderful support, I still can't believe people would take the time to comment and it amazes me each and every time. It's such an honor. It means a lot and I can't thank you enough! Anyhow, enjoy <3
> 
> __________

 

 

They both braced for more explosions and possibly for a very quick death, but that didn’t happen. A streams of light rushed through the edges of their shuttle, flickering through the walls as if they weren’t even there and the whole pilot cabin was filled with a chorus of a never-ending song.

Derek recognized it… but not really. He recognized the instruments, but not any of the songs. It was very similar to what he heard around Stiles before. Sort of anyways. But not really.

The chorus grew stronger and the shuttle shuddered a bit, creaking. It held though. The fatal beams didn’t reach them. The light surging all around them must have been a part of the Nano’s shields. It enveloped them in a gentle safe embrace.

They both seemed to relax at the same time.

“Well, fuck,” Stiles whispered, sitting back in the seat. Somehow they both ended up standing right next to each other during the last few moments.

“I’m assuming that shielded ship got to us in time,” he half-asked and half-said while collapsing into his own seat.

“Yeah, that’s them,” Stiles confirmed, closing his eyes. He seemed to be listening in. “It’s them.” He smiled.

“Your _people_ ,” Derek said.

“Our people,” Stiles corrected. “The least you can do is include them in your circle too. They did save your life yanno.”

“Is that how it works?” he wondered.

Stiles just shrugged, his hand wondering about his thigh. He was idly scratching the rash there and Derek had no energy to stop him.

The pilot cabin gave a weak lurch and then seemed to be pulled towards something. A speckle of light phased through the front wall, its pattern different from the streams of light dipping in and out of the walls. It swirled lazily around the main holo. It looked like Stiles’ Nanobot, except it had a different color - if that could be called a color really. The light was so small and so pure it was hard to say exactly.

Stiles leaned over and reached out a finger. The light swirled around it and then bumped into his hand. Stiles’ skin somehow repelled it, propelling it to the other side of the cabin. Stiles’ lips did a funny thing… but he otherwise gave no other reaction.

The light swirled around and headed towards Derek, who leaned away precautiously.

“Don’t worry,” Stiles said, following the light with his eyes. There was something in them, that Derek couldn’t read. “They’re just checking up on us...”

“Oh.” Derek huffed, nodding. He offered his own hand. The light circled around it a few times and then flew right through his palm.

In some sort of a delayed reaction, Derek pulled his hand back, but it was too late, the light was already swirling up and about the cabin as if checking for the general state of things around them.

Within a few moments, it disappeared back into the wall, leaving them alone.

Derek looked over at Stiles with his eyebrows lifted up high, hoping he wouldn’t have to utter the question that was hanging on the tip of his tongue. But Stiles wasn’t paying him any attention anymore. He was looking at the spot on the wall where the light had disappeared, his hands shaky as he pushed his thumb against his palm.

Derek swallowed his question back down and remained respectfully silent.

 

~o~

 

The lights streaming at the edges of their walls slowly whirled into full view, flooding the whole space. The cabin gave one last lurch and then stopped moving. They were inside of the mother ship, judging by the slight change of gravity Derek could perceive - he suddenly felt a lot heavier than before. His shoulders slumped by reflex.

There was a blinding flash behind them from a tool thawing through the locked pad next to the door. After a moment, the door slid open.

“I’ve got this,” Stiles said as he got up to greet their saviors. Derek followed suit, albeit a bit more cautiously. He knew nothing about the _people_ waiting for them on the other side, so caution was only natural.

The light coming through the opened door was almost blinding. There were so many Nanos swirling through the space, Derek almost didn’t even notice the actual life form standing in front of them…the long limbs and the obvious lack of a mouth were a given, but Derek was slightly confused by the four legs. _Interesting..._

It didn’t move, but there was a mass of purple-colored Nanos around it. The other colors joined and parted with them in a massive wave of light.

Stiles lifted his hands and moved his fingers around in some sort of a pattern, but compared to the life form in front of them it looked rather clumsy, heavy.

And all the while, the stray Nanos kept streaming around, passing through Derek’s body. He didn’t like it and  kept twitching uncomfortably, even though he couldn’t feel a thing with them flying though his matter. He considered to move behind Stiles, but didn’t want to offend the life form.

Then again, Stiles had it worse. Nanos were bumping into his skin, trying to resume their course and failing rather phenomenally - it was a mess of a dance.

The life form opposite of them noticed the same. Or maybe it just understood whatever Stiles was trying to bring across with the weird and erratic finger-wiggling.

It extended its three-fingered hand and in its palm, Derek saw two white thin bracelets..

Stiles waved his hand in a weird gesture and reached out for both.

“Here, put this on you somewhere,” he instructed, giving him one. “They will just flow around then. Give the needed privacy. Jack apologizes for the rudeness, under any normal occasion xe would have given us these before we could be assaulted by the stream, but yanno… this was far from normal.”

“Right,” Derek said and slung the bracelet around his wrist. The Nanos around started to part, moving around him as if he was a rock protruding from a vast river.

Derek jerked his head in the life form’s direction. “Jack?”

“Well, names are really hard to translate from Nano, yanno.” He lifted his hand and showed some sort of a wavy motion. The Nano in front of them jerked its head to Derek in a very human manner. It apparently understood Stiles was introducing it.

“Let’s just call xyr Jack,” Stiles added, turning to Jack. “This is Derek,” he said, swirling his fingers around like… well, it looked rather crazy, Derek was pretty impressed. Such motion shouldn’t be manageable for human fingers. But then again, Stiles was lucky enough to have such long nimble fingers, they were perfect for the language.

Jack turned around without a word and started to walk away from them. The Nanos never stopped dancing through it in an unending stream.

“Xe’s gonna lead us to the Med,” Stiles explained as he started to follow. Derek matched his pace. “Apparently one of xyr pinners intercepted my ouroboros. I put a hidden Nano stream inside just in case. Guess we were lucky for once.”

He curled his fingers, waving his pinky. Jack didn’t even watch him and yet they seemed to be still communicating. Was all of it done via the Nano stream? Derek understood a sad equivalent of nothing.

“Ah, so we are on our way back to ehm… one of the home planets. I can’t remember the IA name right now. But anyways… the fleet apparently got rid of the fighters guarding the facility. They are gonna send more rescue troops down there to check it up.”

“Good. There were more of the pods in there,” Derek said. “I think. They deserve to be saved too. If yes.”

Stiles shuddered. “Yeah.” He scratched his stomach, the movement attracting Derek’s eyes. The rash was getting worse way too fast. The fact that Stiles kept scratching it didn’t really help it much either.

He opened his mouth to stop him, but then closed it again. It wasn’t his business… but, wasn’t it a bit too late to try and force himself to think that? After all he risked to rescue him?

They walked through a few corridors enveloped in  streams of light. They passed other Nanos that were not paying much attention to them. Some had the picture-perfect shapes Derek saw in the holo while researching the Nano race, but the rest had… some additions to them - an eye more, a leg more, an actual mouth.

“They got different shapes,” Derek said, curiosity winning over.

“Yes,” Stiles nodded, swiping his fingers over his arm. “Surprised? It’s just… an accessory thing.”

Derek frowned. “Extra limbs?”

“Well, yes, for Nanos anyways. They aren’t reproductive in a human sense… or yanno, in a general sense anyways. They got no gender, they got no sex - in all sense and meaning. They literally just build their offspring, using a Nano as a seed. And once you grow a Nano stream inside of the body, they spark the individual. The design it up to your parent then, right. I guess you could make all kinds of shapes with it but also you want them all to have a pretty efficient design. More legs take up more motoric skill and it’s just bloody awful to coordinate, so not many Nanos usually go for that. Same with basically all the entrails… it’s just a mess, digestion takes up too much energy. And anyways the Nano stream supplies enough of that, so…”

He was just babbling at that point, Derek realized. It was a nervous sort of talking, accompanied by compulsive scratching. Stiles’ skin on his arms was looking raw, it was leaking and he barely paid any attention to it.

Did it hurt? It must have been hurting.

Derek reached over and grabbed his biceps to pull his nails off his skin.

“Stiles,” he said not sure how to continue, instead he just gestured on the raw skin on his arm.

Stiles made a cross face, his eyes stubbornly glued to his face. _What the fuck was going on?_ Was Derek imagining the damage on his skin or something?

“I bet you are wondering how _I_ was made then, dontcha?” Stiles teased, shaking off his hand to hurry after Jack. “Well, the same…-ish. Except it was super hard to combine a human content with that of a Nano. Nobody ever tried it before and well… my mom succeeded, but it killed her so, I don’t think anybody is like super motivated to try it again. Anyhow, the answer is yes, I was made in a test tube. Basically…”

Stiles kept on going, his topic straying from the Nano race to explain different intricate things about human anatomy. And Derek? Well, he remained thoughtfully quiet for the rest of their track to the Medical, watching uneasily as Stiles nails ranked over his skin .

 

~o~

 

Once Stiles was whisked away into the urgent care and Derek politely and then _very insistently_ declined any sort of medical care and universe forbid a routine scan, Derek was ushered into a spare cabin and left to his own devices.

Luckily, it was slightly shielded away from the Nano stream, because Derek wasn’t sure if he would be able to sleep with all the light around. Especially when it was looking like a burning fire when he closed his eyes. Still, it wasn’t perfectly sealed away. Derek could see tiny flickers in and out of the wall...

Tearing his eyes away from the Nanos, he glanced at the bed. There was a standart IA package on top of it with nourishment and clothes that were universally acceptable.

Derek wolfed down the food, recognizing the flavours of Whittemorian home worlds and drank as much of the fruity fluid he could fit into his tiny human stomach.

He then took a very quick and unpleasant dry shower… needless to say, he wasn’t used to anything better, so it was fine. And since he grew tired of running around naked, he rummaged around he standart IA package for a bit, until it supplied him with some comfy greyish pants in Vulgular fashion. Those literally fit the overwhelming majority of the universe since they were loose enough to cover any bits of pieces that could protrude from the general and ordinary race-shape.

Derek sat down on the floor and stared at the wall. By all means he should be figuring out how to contact the Beacon and let them know he managed to get Stiles out of the marketplace. But somehow, he couldn’t muster enough strength to even lift his arm anymore.

It’s been a hard few cycles. Harder than he would have thought it to be. He had been too close to death one too many times. And for what? His pride, his sense of righteousness? Or perhaps for Stiles? _No_ , he frowned, _no_ … he would have done the same for any other crew member, because it was the right thing to do. _Wasn’t it? Of course, it was._

Instead of thinking deeper into it, Derek decided to get a hang of the Beacon after all. It was better than dwelling on things he wasn’t comfortable diving into yet. If ever.

Tapping his holo, he opened the communication channel and was surprised that the Nanos instantly re-routed him right into interstellar waters, boosting the signal to reach whatever part of space Beacon was currently occupying. Stiles must have told them something or maybe they were expecting him to contact his Captain once he settled down regardless… be it as it may, Derek’s holo suddenly blinked and the Sheriff came into view.

He was standing on the Bridge, looking rather surprised.

“Son, I… did not expect to hear from you again.” His eyes skimmed the signal feed. “And from a Nano ship nonetheless. From what Danny reported-”

“Sir, I apologize for not contacting you earlier,” Derek started, nodding in a silent salute. “The situation was rather…”

“Stiles?” Sheriff breathed.

“Here on the ship with me,” Derek said, watching a tremendous wave of relief pass over his face. “I’m not sure what the status on his health is at the moment though. The pod he was trapped in… did something to him.”

Sheriff nodded. “But lucid.”

“Up until admitted to the Medical,” Derek confirmed. “I don’t exactly know the present status.”

Sheriff nodded again and then exhaled deeply.

“Why don’t we start from the beginning so that I am up to date on all fronts. Danny told me his side when he arrived a few hour ago… up to losing Stiles within the Docks when Morrell got hit. There was apparently a riot of sorts because of a forced lock-down?”

“Yes,” Derek said, finally understanding what all the commotion back at the marketplace was about. “I stumbled upon Stiles when running from the shots myself. We managed to hijack a shuttle that belonged to the research facility, so the passage out was open to us… I think, it was a rather fortunate turn of events.”

“I see.”

“Stiles shielded us from the ruckus around and send out an ouroboros message, which was received by the Nano fleet. They… hurried to our rescue with the whole fleet...”

“Yeah… that doesn’t surprise me.” Sheriff smiled. “If there is one thing the Nanos do is taking care of their own. Rather excessively at times, but I guess it played out well for you.”

“Yes.”

Sheriff leaned out of the view for a second and there was a murmur of unrecognizable voices - the connection was jumbling them too much. He then appeared back, saying: “What is your position? Might be we could rendezvous with-”

“I am unsure, sir,” he admitted. “My apologies, I did not get to speak to the Captain yet. Nor to any of the crew for that matter.”

“Ah, no problem.” He lifted his hand and drew a complicated pattern with it. It would seem he also knew some bits and pieces of the Nano language. “They will re-root me to the Bridge now. Take care, son.”

“Yes, sir.”

And just like that the connection went blank.

Derek had to briefly wonder if he said all that needed to be said, but… it wasn’t like he had much to relay anyways. Stiles was fine. For now. Probably… except, was he though? It was a while since he had seen him… and his state was rapidly deteriorating ever since he got out of the pod. Or maybe even before, Derek wouldn’t know.

He glanced back his holo. Pursed his lips.

Lifting his finger, he tapped the holo, scrolling through the options. He wondered if the Nanos had some sort of a written language and how it looked like. His holo was in a default SLA setting, so it wasn’t exactly clear what the Nano used in a normal setting…

A within the ship chat option came to view. Derek’s finger hovered over it.

Stiles would know what kind of a language the Nanos spoke. Assuming he was on the list anyways.

Derek tapped it and scrolled through the list. And to his surprise there actually was a user named Stiles. All the rest were confusing sequences of dancing dots that Derek couldn’t read - that was probably the Nano language he had been wondering about. Well, so much for that.

Derek tapped his own user name, which was a dance of dots on itself. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but he could guess it was just some default whatever. Stiles must have changed his…

Derek tapped his name. It opened a chat window.

After starting at it for a while, he decided there wasn’t really much he needed to share with Stiles. Sheriff would probably already be in contact with him… Derek probably shouldn’t disturb.

He let the arm with the holo fall down and lied down. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.

 

~o~

 

He could see light blinking behind his eyelids. That was probably what woke him up… or was it something else? He wasn’t sure. But since it wasn’t a horrid nightmare, Derek wasn’t gonna complain.

Surprisingly enough, the light didn’t originate in a part of a Nano stream, it was his holo alerting him of an arrived message.

He squinted at it as he read the words.

 

_STILES: can c yu typin yanno_

 

Derek frowned and turned over to his back, staring up at the words. He should probably type something back.

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: I wasn’t really though. I just left the window opened and then fell asleep._

 

The reply came almost immediately:

 

_STILES: same same but dffrnt_

 

_STILES: anyways smth u wanted?_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: I contacted the Beacon to update them on our situation. Sheriff said he will talk to the Nano Captain._

 

_STILES: yea we talked_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Did he say what the plan is now? Will they come pick us up? Do we have to catch some pin back to them?_

 

_STILES: dunno bout u but i am stayin with nanos for a bit_

 

_STILES: suppose dat means u r stayin until we reach  home planet at least_

 

_STILES: no idea tbh_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: I see. I suppose I will contact the Beacon for orders then._

 

_STILES:  u do dat_

 

Derek pursed his lips, staring at the screen. His fingers hovered over the letters. He wasn’t sure if he should type the question that came to his mind.

 

_STILES: dud i can feel u burnin holes in screen_

 

_STILES: spill it_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: How are you doing?_

 

_STILES: ok_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Does that mean the Nanos can heal whatever is blocking your bots?_

 

_STILES: yep_

 

_STILES: no thats a lie they dunno wat to do with it tbh but i knew dat already_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Wait. But you just said they know how to heal you._

 

_STILES: its fine_

 

_STILES: i lied_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Why?_

 

_STILES: look_

 

_STILES: i feel like shit can we just talk bout smth else?_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: You should rest instead then._

 

_STILES:  i am resting_

 

_STILES: but cant sleep and am bored_

 

_STILES: entertain me_

 

_STILES: its not like u got other stuff to do_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_STILES: derek_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: I don’t really have anything else to talk about. You really should get some rest if you feel unwell._

 

_STILES: derek_

 

_STILES: DEREK_

 

_STILES:  deeeerrrreeeeeek_

 

_STILES: i am booooored_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles, seriously?_

 

_STILES: yep_

 

_STILES: i can feel yor eyebrows judgin me from all the way here dud, stop it_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: You are just gonna keep spaming me, aren’t you?_

 

_STILES:  yp u might as well give up now_

 

_STILES: spare yorself embarrassmnt cos yu aint gonna last long_

 

_STILES: im gonna tire yu out eventually_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Is that a challenge?_

 

_STILES: nop its reality_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: What do you want to talk about then?_

 

_STILES: yaaaaaay_

 

 _STILES:_ _‿︵‿︵(ಥ﹏ಥ)‿︵‿︵_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: What is that?_

 

_STILES: mah face rn_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: I sure hope not. Seeing as it’s rather two-dimensional._

 

_STILES: duuud a joke?_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes._

 

_STILES: from you?_

 

_STILES: mr grumpy mcgrump?_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes._

 

_STILES: unexpected_

 

_.・･●・○゜ﾟ: And don’t call me that._

 

_STILES: pardon my language guest 02_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Is that what the dots say?_

 

_STILES: yep_

 

_STILES: so..._

 

_STILES:  i realized i know nothin bout yu and yu like saved my life n all that shit_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: And you saved mine and I am thankful for that, but that doesn’t mean I will share all my childhood dreams with you._

 

_STILES: i would share mine with yu if yu wanted_

 

_STILES: no biggie_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Don’t._

 

_STILES: open up Derek_

 

_STILES: it might do yu good_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I am good, thanks._

 

_STILES: are yu though?_

 

_STILES: cos dat was a really fuckedup nightmare yanno_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: We are not going to talk about that. Forget it ever happened._

 

_STILES: i used to have nightmares like dat n it helped to talk bout dem yanno_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Tell me what’s wrong with you then. Tell me what the medics said. What is the diagnosis? Tell me. Go on._

 

_STILES: wow low blow dude_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Thought you would like to have a piece of your own medicine._

 

_STILES: my nanos are dying and dey cant reverse it- dey never saw dem regress like this- beyond repair dey said- its not what snatchers back at earth did- dat was just a cheap blocker- simple to get rid of once yu got needed tech- but wat dey did in that pod- i dunno… it felt different n it felt wrong n now dey are all dying- one by one n its fucking me up- yu saw what it did to my skin- thats how it starts- i should know dat coz its what happened to my mom too- so dont tell me it will be ok cos im not stupid- i knew it since i saw my skin when i first got off fucking pod_

 

_STILES: now_

 

_STILES: your turn_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I didn’t really mean to pry. I was just trying to keep up with the conversation._

 

_STILES: YOR FUCKIN TURN DEREK_

 

_STILES: or i swear i will fuckin crawl out of dis antiseptic aspic n come punch yor stupi face_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: There isn’t really anything to tell if truth be told._

 

_STILES: …_

 

_STILES: right well_

 

_STILES: i call lies_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Leave it._

 

_STILES: leave wat? dat yu arent human somehow? dat yor file is obviously a big fat lie cos yu sure as hell aint a root trainee with no other experiences? wat happened to your family dat got yu such nightmates? im sure it wasnt a IA military life- and who is peter? n how did you get the coordinances of research facility cos i know for a fact dat vernon has no fuckin life n thus no friends to ask such favors of_

 

_STILES: im not stupid yanno_

 

_STILES: but of course dats none of my business_

 

_STILES: goodnight derek_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Wait._

 

_STILES: if dats even yoor real name_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles, wait._

 

_STILES: wat?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Are you gonna tell them?_

 

_STILES: tell who? my dad? IA?_

 

_STILES: why would i? are yu some sort of a dangerous terrorist out to get us all?_

 

_STILES: no i am not gonna tell dem_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I am not a danger to the Beacon. Nor  the IA._

 

_STILES: i didnt think yu were_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Thanks._

 

_STILES: look its not like i wanted to…_

 

_STILES: i mean yu just know so much bout me and my shit so i…_

 

_STILES: it just felt unfair_

 

_STILES: keep yor secrets if yu need to keep them wtv_

 

_STILES: derek?_

 

_STILES: hello?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: My family was murdered and they almost got me too, but I ran away with Peter and we have been on the run ever since. I just… I couldn’t do it anymore. I wanted to… I don’t know what I wanted, but I was just in the way and an IA flagship seemed like a good place to hide out and be safe for once._

 

_STILES: holy shit_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What?_

 

_STILES: i didnt see dat comin_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What did you think it was?_

 

_STILES: idk like some illegal shit yu are embarrased to share or somthg mellow yanno_

 

_STILES: like dat yu are some reinstalled hybrid or a secret agent or some shit_

 

_STILES: not like_

 

_STILES:  dis_

 

_STILES:  dats gotta be tough_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: My file is a lie, you were right._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Is it that obvious?_

 

_STILES: nah_

 

_STILES: no_

 

_STILES: i am just very persistent when i set my mind on somthng_

 

_STILES: also you are really shitty in keepin it up around me_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes. I noticed that myself._

 

_STILES: i shall be flattered mylord_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: ?_

 

_STILES: come on no need to be embarrassed_

 

_STILES: i am the king of chill atmosphere_

 

_STILES: one feels instantly at home round me- its so mellow- makes yu wanna share all yor secrets_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: That’s not really how your presence works, but okay._

 

_STILES: you wound me sire_

 

_STILES: i shall request a duel to protect my honor_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: You would lose._

 

_STILES: ts ts ts_

 

_STILES: dont think so_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles, I am not human, how can you win against me?_

 

_STILES: oh now he confesses!?_

 

_STILES: when its about proving a point?_

 

_STILES: i should have mocked yor strength sooner_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I doubt that would have worked before._

 

_STILES:  so how does it work anyways?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What?_

 

_STILES: yor secret alien side_

 

_STILES: yu look human…_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Holo suit._

 

_STILES: n yu want me to believe dey didnt want to sell dat back at earth?_

 

_STILES: or dat nobody noticed yet?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes._

 

_STILES: level 0 tech?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes._

 

_STILES: i gotta admit i am impressed_

 

_STILES: and weirdly aroused_

 

_STILES: can i see?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_STILES: level 0 tech- come on_

 

_STILES: thats like holy grail of tech_

 

_STILES: how did you even get yor hands on somtng like dat?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Peter is good at that sort of thing._

 

_STILES: yor uncle_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes._

 

_STILES: ok scratch dat_

 

_STILES: i wanna meet him instead_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: No._

 

_STILES: well one can always dream_

 

_STILES: dud_

 

_STILES: now i cant stp imaginin yu like a blob of slime hiding away in badass holosuit_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: If that makes you happy._

 

_STILES: not gonna get any more info out of yu am i?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: One would have thought you already got enough for one cycle._

 

_STILES: true but also not true yanno_

 

_STILES: jk im fine with anythng yu wanna share_

 

_STILES: was hopin for dose childhood dreams_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I don’t think I’ve had any._

 

_STILES: sad_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Except maybe going out there, you know? We were sort of excluding ourselves from the universe. There were all these huge civilisations all around and we didn’t even go out to space. It wasn’t a thing in our culture albeit we had the technology._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Ironically, that’s exactly what I’ve gotten in the end. Now I can go anywhere except  home._

 

_STILES: can always make new home_

 

_STILES: but yea i get it_

 

_STILES: i always thought my home was gonna last forever n now it ain’t nowhere_

 

_STILES: nanos would take me but i dont feel like one_

 

_STILES: humans are weird around me_

 

_STILES: dad is too_

 

_STILES: it wasnt like dat before my mom died_

 

_STILES: sometimes i feel like shit cos shed be still alive if she havent decided to build a fuckin hybrid like me_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I would say it wasn’t your fault, but I hate to hear that myself, so I won’t go there. Can’t exactly erase that guilt with any words now, can we?_

 

_STILES: what did yu do?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I trusted the wrong person._

 

_STILES: yu said yu were keepin away from universe..._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: We were. It was dangerous for us to be a part of the universe. I know that now. I didn’t know that then. Naive as I was I should have… well I should have done a lot of things I didn’t._

 

_STILES: a blob of slime would have it hard_

 

_STILES: splattering round_

 

_STILES: i cant get it off my head_

 

_STILES: its cute yet yucky at th same time_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I rolled my eyes so hard they should have fallen out of my skull. I am honestly surprised they are still intact._

 

_STILES: har har_

 

_STILES: just thought dere was enough heavy stuff_

 

_STILES: ah fuckk_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Can’t disagree with that._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What?_

 

_STILES: gotta go now_

 

_STILES: but talk later?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Sure._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Talk later._

 

Derek leaned back, his eyes rising up to the ceiling. A flicker of Nanobots created dancing reflections all over its surface, but he paid it no attention. His heart was beating heavily in his chest. So heavily he could feel the perpetual drumming right inside his ears.

He told him. He actually told Stiles. Told him what he wasn’t supposed to tell anybody.

He told him.

He did it.

Well, shit.


	16. Chapter 16

 

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: The med is under quarantine and I understand very little of the Nano language even with the translator on. It’s not picking up on the patterns well, they are too scattered… are you okay?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Should I contact the Sheriff?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Just let me know once you’ve read this._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Hope you’re okay._

 

_STILES: hi_

 

_STILES: im fine no worries_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Then what is the quarantine about?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Hello._

 

_STILES: uhhh, how much of a lie do yu wanna hear?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Zero percent._

 

_STILES: figures_

 

_STILES: im not doin so well dey say_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What does that mean?_

 

_STILES: uhh it might include some really nasty blisters all over my skin, dryin off and comin off with my skin within an hour or so?_

 

_STILES: on another hand i look quite badass like this_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What the hell. Stiles._

 

_STILES: iiii guess thats normal though no worries_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: How is that normal?_

 

_STILES: well it happens, just not this fast_

 

_STILES: i would really wanna know what the bastards pumped into me_

 

_STILES: n so would the captain_

 

_STILES: said its a possible biohazard so dey quarantined me in case it was contagious to other nanos_

 

_STILES: thouuugh i guess it isnt, yu saw how dey bounced off me_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: They wouldn’t even let me in though. And I shouldn’t be in danger, right? What are you not telling me?_

 

_STILES: ah i guess dey were scared my open wounds would catch infection, its not safe or somthng hah_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I don’t find that very funny. What are they doing to help you?_

 

_STILES: everthng dey can_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: And what can they do?_

 

_STILES: not much i admit_

 

_STILES: though i get to float in aspic for most of my time… thus lack of responses- sorry_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What is that aspic for?_

 

_STILES: its cooling n antiseptic n such_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: But that doesn’t heal anything then? Just makes it bearable?_

 

_STILES: pretty much yea_

 

_STILES: anyhow howve yu been?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_STILES: look yu seem worried but can yu not?_

 

_STILES: its fine_

 

_STILES: pls_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: But it’s not fine. There must be something that can be done._

 

_STILES: dey cant do anything here, but we will be on  home planet within a few cycles so- sadly we cant use a pin with me like this- dey are worried it will trigger somethg_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Will they be able to help there?_

 

_STILES: no but hey its FINE_

 

_STILES: can we talk bout somethg else?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: No._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: We need to figure out what to do to help you. If the Nanos can’t help you then we will go and search elsewhere._

 

_STILES: awww yu do care_

 

_STILES: but seriously_

 

_STILES: i dont think i can leave in dis state anymore hah_

 

_STILES: i just… i wanna talk bout somethg else for now?_

 

_STILES: i will let yu talk bout this shit later if ya want_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Does the Sheriff know?_

 

_STILES: yea_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: So what is the plan then? I doubt he would just let you stay like this._

 

_STILES:  he cant do anythng_

 

_STILES: ok look_

 

_STILES: i dont wanna talk bout it now please? thanks for worrying but just...the medics are already full of it and i need a break give me a break derek._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: But._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Alright._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What do you want to talk about?_

 

_STILES:  anythng everthng idk_

 

_STILES: hows the nano ship life for ya?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Better than for you._

 

_STILES: yu’re no fun dud_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I am not trying to be, maybe that’s the problem._

 

_STILES: then try to be_

 

_STILES: dyings dud last wish_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Sweet universe, Stiles. You are not dying._

 

_STILES: on the contrary_

 

_STILES: yes i am_

 

_STILES: now get t fuck over it n lets have some fun_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_STILES: derek_

 

_STILES: lets play truth or dare_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Not sure I like this useless plan of trying to force to reveal all my secrets._

 

_STILES: just go with a dare den_

 

_STILES: first!_

 

_STILES: truth or dare_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Doesn’t a dare defeat the purpose? It’s not like you can see me doing whatever nefarious thing you have in mind._

 

_STILES: so dare?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Now what?_

 

_STILES: im thinking_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: See._

 

_STILES: shush_

 

_STILES: take a seflie actually smiling n send it to me_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Like a picture? What? Why?_

 

_STILES: cos i say so_

 

_STILES: wat did yu have yor smile muscles removed or wat?_

 

_STILES: wouldnt surprise me_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: That’s not really a dare._

 

_STILES: so where is my pic dud?_

 

_STILES: hmmm?_

 

_STILES: hmmmmmm?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: ----------_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: There. Truth or dare?_

 

_STILES: oooo, yu actually can smile_

 

_STILES: color me surprised_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Truth or dare, Stiles?_

 

_STILES: awww yu shy bby_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_STILES: hmmm truth_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Tell me what the medics said about what is affecting your Nanos. What did the tests say?_

 

_STILES: dud is dis it?_

 

_STILES: choose somethng more fun_

 

_STILES: yu can ask basically anythng_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ:  I am asking this._

 

_STILES: alright_

 

_STILES: its some sort of interactive blocker- it was probably infused in water molecules n somehow activated to get into each cell- its blocking off any nanos from entering and it actively searches out nanos inside of me coating dem and dissolving- that creates waste materials dat are poisoning me from inside- dats why the crazy skin reaction- body is trying to get rid of it through skin but its not helping- once all my nanos die i am a goner too n dey cant feed me any of theirs to support my system due to obvious reasons_

 

_STILES: t or d?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Dare._

 

_STILES: ur such a shitface_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Dare anyways._

 

_STILES: hmmmmmmmm_

 

_STILES: i dare you to tell me something super personal_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: That’s not technically a dare._

 

_STILES: well its not like yu r playin fair with all yor stupid truths so_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Point taken._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What counts as personal?_

 

_STILES: hmm, idk like first kiss or somethng for example_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Or something like what?_

 

_STILES: wait wait wait_

 

_STILES:  just go for first kiss story_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: No._

 

_STILES:  i dare yu_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: My mom._

 

_STILES: on lips?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Well, no._

 

_STILES: doesnt count then needs to be like some serious tongue action_

 

_STILES: or like slime action or wtv yu use in yor real form_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I was in a human form for that._

 

_STILES: oooo and?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I don’t like to talk about it._

 

_STILES:  that bad?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes._

 

_STILES: why? horrible kisser?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Not really._

 

_STILES: so?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: That’s it._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: My turn._

 

_STILES: duuud dat was like no story at all_

 

_STILES: come on_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: It was a female human. She kissed me. I liked it. She just did it to gain my trust. And then she fucked me over. It’s not something I enjoy remembering._

 

_STILES: ah ok sorry_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Truth or dare?_

 

_STILES: truth_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What is he running theory on curing you? There must be something? Anything?_

 

_STILES: i thought yu would ask bout my first kiss_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: No. Now tell me what I want to know._

 

_STILES: uhh well dis is a hard one though but ok_

 

_STILES: if dey could flush their nanos through me, so many of dem dat it would overwhelm the virus, dey could win over maybe and flush the virus out, but i am full with it n my nanos are obviously losing n blocker wont let dem in_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ:  Can’t they implant them surgically somehow?_

 

_STILES: ho hoo, my turn though_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Dare._

 

_STILES: uggggh_

 

_STILES: ok_

 

_STILES: run to the med and bang at t door five times_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Seriously?_

 

_STILES: yes run, yu need to do it under min_

 

_STILES: hurry hurry_

 

_STILES: derek?_

 

_STILES: r we playin or wat?_

 

_STILES: ahhh i heard dat omg haha_

 

_STILES: medics r coming ruuuuun_

 

_STILES: omg yu really did it haha_

 

_STILES: i cant even lol_

 

 _STILES:_ _(￣▽￣)_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ:  Your turn. Can’t they implant them surgically somehow?_

 

_STILES: well technically via a blood transfusion maybe, but yu see no nano or human has a blood like mine, so… and their nanos wouldnt be potent enough to overwhelm my system even if dere was blood like dat available n dey would have to run loads of it through me… like a whole circulation system, dat a lot_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Truth._

 

_STILES: lololol did i scare yu with t last one?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: They knew it was me, Stiles, who else would it be. I doubt other Nanos go around banging on doors like maniacs._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I don’t want to cause trouble by having to do this kind of shit again, so truth._

 

_STILES: hm hm hmmmm_

 

_STILES: how old r u really?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: 53 quantons._

 

_STILES: ummm_

 

_STILES: dats like wat 64 human years?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I am unsure. I guess?_

 

_STILES: rad_

 

_STILES: im younger by a bit_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles, truth or dare?_

 

_STILES: dontcha wanna know how old i am?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: No. Now which do you choose?_

 

_STILES: dare_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Make a picture for me. Of yourself._

 

_STILES: eww no_

 

_STILES: also yu cant just do the same as me_

 

_STILES: cant do the same twice thats rules_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Alright, hack your medical files and send them to me._

 

_STILES: i am making a very unimpressed face rn_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: So am I, since I see no files being uploaded._

 

_STILES: like what do you think…. ok nvm_

 

_STILES:  ----------_

 

_STILES:  dere_

 

_STILES: truth or dare?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Truth._

 

_STILES: wat do yu think yu can achieve with this whole medical interrogation?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I want to see for myself if there really is nothing to be done._

 

_STILES: suit yorself_

 

_STILES: yu will be proved wrong yanno but ok_

 

_STILES: anyhow dat wasn’t my question actually_

 

_STILES: let me think a bit_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: By all means it should have counted as one._

 

_STILES: yea, but yu like me so yull let it slide rite?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ:  I wouldn’t formulate it exactly like that but ok._

 

_STILES: awww yu big softie_

 

_STILES: umm actually_

 

_STILES: need a break_

 

_STILES: talk later?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Yes, talk to you later, Stiles._

 

_STILES: [ɷ◡ɷ]*_

  


~o~

  


“Boyd.” Derek nodded in a silent salute. “May he stars never lead you astray.”

“Same,” Boyd said, staring at him from the holo. Erica was leaning into the view as well, waving her hand around so fast, it was practically smearing on the screen.

“Hi, Derek!” she greeted. “Glad to see you’re still alive.”

“Barely,” he admitted.

“Would be a shame to lose you after all the training,” she said. He couldn’t really see her expression since the visor of her suit was reflecting the light above her, but he guessed she was smiling, joking. He was, after all, getting better at reading emotions. Kind of anyways.

“How are you?” Boyd cut in.

Derek shrugged. “Tired, but alright.”

“Stiles?” Erica asked almost immediately and Derek almost felt bad bursting the hopeful bubble he could hear in her voice.

And so he decided for a more neutral answer. “I am not exactly sure.”

“So I guess the transcripts were right,” she said, her sad face coming into view for a bit before it disappeared behind the visor flare. “They poisoned him?”

“That is my understanding of it, yes,” he confirmed.

“But what-”

“Erica,” Boyd interrupted, gesturing to his right. Probably at the station number two. “Could you get that while I go through the next steps with Derek?”

She nodded and disappeared from the view.

“So, the Sheriff will be taking a leave and reconnect with you both at the Nano homestead in a few cycles,” Boyd said. “The pin transporter will be prepaid to take you back to us. We shall have you back in no time.”

“What about Stiles?” Derek asked somehow stupidly.

“You know what the situation is with him, don’t you?” Boyd asked seriously. “He will remain in a med center with the Sheriff until... “ He didn’t finish the sentence but Derek understood it well enough.

He had a plan though.

A running theory.

A foolish hope perhaps.

He just needed to get a hang of one more thing.

“I need Stiles’ private file,” he said.

Erica’s head popped up at the side of the holo screen, staring at him weirdy.

“What for?” Boyd asked. He leaned in a bit closer to the holo as if worried somebody might hear their conversation. Or maybe it was just the curiosity.

“Do you have some sort of a med friend that could help him?” Erica piped up. “Like with the coordinates?”

He didn’t answer.

“Derek, I can’t give you that,” Boyd said. “Only the Sheriff has access to those. Not only because he is the contracted Captain, but because of being the last surviving relative.”

“I need it, Boyd,” he said hoping that against all odds it will be enough to persuade his Root Boss to take the risk. It of course wasn’t.

“It’s not about wanting or not wanting to do it,” Boyd argues. “I literally have no access to that part of the Code.”

Derek pursed his lips. “Maybe a ha-”

“Don’t even say that,” Boyd jumped in. “This is an official line. Your request has been denied. Get ready to board the pin transport once you reach the Nano planet.”

“Understood,” he said.

The line went blank, leaving Derek alone with the small flickers coming in through the wall of his cabin. He thought it was rather fitting - his hope was flickering the same.

~o~

 

_STILES: so i know what i wanna ask now_

 

_STILES: derek?_

 

_STILES: dud?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I’m here._

 

_STILES: oh hey_

 

_STILES: hi_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Hello, Stiles. How are you doing?_

 

_STILES: ok_

 

_STILES: yu?_

 

_STILES: dat is NOT my actual question_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What is your question then?_

 

_STILES: been thinking bout my mom a lot lately_

 

_STILES: wat was yors like?_

 

_STILES: i mean any equivalent of a mom in yor species_

 

_STILES: my mom wasnt exactly female by human standarts, nanos have no gender like dat_

 

_STILES: its jut wat dey decided with my dad since dis n dat but anyhow...yor mom? go_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Do I have a choice?_

 

_STILES: nop go_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I always thought I was her least favorite child if truth be told, but now that I think about it I realize that probably wasn’t the case. She was just really strict, but that didn’t mean…  I thought it was more with me at that time, but she was the leader. She just wanted to protect us all and I was the most rebellious._

 

_STILES: lol yu dont seem like it now_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I would love to say I’ve learned my lesson, but I think I am just pretending I did. If it comes down to it, I usually choose the more foolish path._

 

_STILES: dat aint a bad thing tho_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: It is if it brings me and the life forms around me at risk_

 

_STILES: yu saved me tho_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I didn’t really, but thank you._

 

_STILES: yor mom sounds cool_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: She was far from cold. I was just blind to it and chose to see only the restrictions she placed upon me._

 

_STILES: dud_

 

_STILES: stop bringin yorself down n focus on the nice stuff_

 

_STILES: just saying_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Truth or dare?_

 

_STILES: wat?_

 

_STILES: but yu didnt..._

 

_STILES: ok guess yu did but still_

 

_STILES: alrite_

 

_STILES: truth_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: How was your mother like?_

 

_STILES: awwh dud_

 

_STILES: best_

 

_STILES: she was THE BEST_

 

_STILES: i was lucky she didnt die right after i was made_

 

_STILES: i had a few years with her befor it came to it_

 

_STILES: few glorious years_

 

_STILES: she hid it from us yanno_

 

_STILES: wat making me did to her_

 

_STILES: she was hiding it for years can yu imagine?_

 

_STILES: her nanos were dying_

 

_STILES: but in the end she couldnt hide it anymore_

 

_STILES: she got sick not just her body but her mind too_

 

_STILES: she_

 

_STILES: it was hard_

 

_STILES: she thought_

 

_STILES: i mean she was right in thinkin it but_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_STILES: she had these episodes where she thought i want to kill her_

 

_STILES: she would yell all these things at me_

 

_STILES: she was right tho_

 

_STILES: my nanos were feeding off hers for years_

 

_STILES: we just didnt know till it was too late_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_STILES: derek i think i deserve this_

 

_STILES: it should have been me_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: But it wasn’t you. What point does it make to look back now? What point is there to live to die? We need to live to live. Death will come to us all at some point. The time you have left shouldn’t be a curse, but a blessing. You are honoring your ancestors with living on. Don’t disgrace your mother, honor her sacrifice._

 

_STILES: is dat wat yu do?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: It’s what I am trying to do. It’s why I decided to board the Beacon. Yes._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: And it’s why you must fight for your life for as long as you can. Giving up is not an option, understand?_

 

_STILES:  sounds easy when yu say it like dat_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: No, it’s not easy. Dying is easy. This is hard. But I know you can do it._

 

_STILES: its not up to me derek_

 

_STILES: i cant get rid of the poison with positive attitude hah_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I know, but..._

 

_STILES: truth or date?_

 

_STILES: *DARE_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Do I get three options now? Is this like a bonus round?_

 

_STILES: dat was obviously a typo stop it_

 

_STILES: t and r are too close togther n yu know it_

 

_STILES: yu aint even gay_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I wonder how you would know what I am and ain’t in terms of sexual orientation, if you don’t even know what kind of a life form I am._

 

_STILES: whoa_

 

_STILES: did yu jus get offended becoz i said yu aint gay?_

 

_STILES: unexpected development_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stiles._

 

_STILES: ok sorry_

 

_STILES: is just humans react to dese things different_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Sucks for them._

 

_STILES: yea i guess so_

 

_STILES: so which do yu choose?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Truth._

 

_STILES: so wat is yor sexual orientation?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I just knew you’re going to ask that._

 

_STILES: haha_

 

_STILES: so?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I stopped seeing the point of these things after my last encounter._

 

_STILES: dats cool_

 

_STILES: a shame but cool_

 

_STILES: well yu never know_

 

_STILES: yu might meet somebody who makes yu wanna get back into it_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Even so. I don’t think I would want that._

 

_STILES: fair enough_

 

_STILES: sooo truth_

 

_STILES: wanna ask me bout my sexual orientation?_

 

_STILES: before yu say no and ask some stupid question bout my sickness i gotta warn yu dat id rather go back to puking than answer more of those questions_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Well then what is your sexual orientation, Stiles?_

 

_STILES: anyone and everyone!_

 

_STILES: duh_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I expected as much._

 

_STILES: but like yanno i might pull a line at some point, universe has much to offer and dere r only so many life forms compatible with humans_

 

_STILES: like any of dose 2d races i cant imagine_

 

_STILES: its a whole different level of being yanno_

 

_STILES: hard to wrap my 3d head round it_

 

_STILES: but i mean if it would come to it i might try if dey catch my attention or somethng i wouldnt just say no yanno_

 

_STILES: i seem a bit desperate i know_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: It’s not good to be alone. I know that much._

 

_STILES: and yet here we r_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Rather ironic, true._

 

_STILES:  u got me for now though_

 

_STILES:  and soon yu will have beacon back_

 

_STILES:  so all good_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What about you, Stiles?_

 

_STILES:  well my dad will come_

 

_STILES: n i got all the nanos round_

 

_STILES: now granted we cant exchange nanos like dis but dey r doin their best to accomodate me_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: What does that mean “exchange Nanos”? You guys can do that? I assumed it’s like within the mother-child relationship?_

 

_STILES: well yes_

 

_STILES: but no?_

 

_STILES: ok let me explain_

 

_STILES: so the first nano never originates from yu, the nanos lost it ability to actually create a nanobot from nothing dey say but some say its impossible and was never done, first nano is a myth dey say or perhaps a genetic mistake OR some sort of a miracle or so_

 

_STILES: but anyhow so yu receive yor first nano from yor mother, xe builds yor body n puts one of xyr nano into yu where it starts up n takes care of the needed processes._

 

_STILES: sometimes one needs more nanos to start working, it depends on the design but if yu go with the usual materials, shapes n processes yu are able to give life offering one only_

 

_STILES: once the body is all started up, nanobot has time to multiply to some extent depending on how much energy body creates_

 

_STILES: now with time yu can learn to control them, yu can let them go out of yor body to join the nano stream and rejoin with yu again when the vawes come back around_

 

_STILES: but yu can never be without any nanos for a long time - the one from yor mother at least needs to remain within you_

 

_STILES: nano queen we call it_

 

_STILES: but with dat one within yu, yu live but yu are no more than a vegetable yanno_

 

_STILES: its like taking the chain off the bicycle without nanos for us, yu might be able to go downhill for a while but once yu hit the plain or need to go uphill yu cant_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I don’t think I know what a bicycle is, but I sort of get the metaphor._

 

_STILES: right well_

 

_STILES: now yu can send a portion of nanos out for some time and since dey can get through matter dey go about coursin through everythign round but mostly other nano beings too n dere dey are able to share  info n stuff with other nanos, dey can interact with dem_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Your father said the Nanos wouldn’t survive within a different organic matter, not for long anyways._

 

_STILES: yes i mean its different with other races_

 

_STILES: if i sent dem to reside within yu, not the holo suit, but real you then they would die off after a while true_

 

_STILES: dey need our bodies to get energy from and we need dem to keep dese bodies functioning well its a win-win for both sides_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: But can’t your Nanobots not get the energy from some other Nano they are going through as a part of the stream then?_

 

_STILES: well no dey are my nanos after all dey work with me_

 

_STILES: its special for me since my nanos are a part of a very unique biosystem_

 

_STILES: a pattern like mine isnt exactly a default nano composition yanno so dey had to adapt to dat n a lot of dem died adapting and trying to get it to work out somehow_

 

_STILES: at this point dey r too different from other nanos_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: But it works between Nanos of the same pattern, composition etc?_

 

_STILES: ehmm well i guess if yu had two exactly same nanos in every way possible den yes_

 

_STILES: but i never heard of a mother constructing such two individuals, its not easy to do dat, i guess  whittemorians would disagree but wat dey do is more science dan nanos do with deir offspring, dey clone their genes and we just mash stuff together and hope nanos can get it to work? Its hard to explain but its totally different_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I see._

 

_STILES: but i can still be a part of nano stream_

 

_STILES: if i was healthy dat is_

 

_STILES: i can send dem out to share deir own info n dey would get a lot of info back n once dey would rejoin with me i would know so much more_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Know as in knowledge?_

 

_STILES: wel depends wat nanos yu send n where dey get through the stream but basically yes yu might get flashes of individual feelings or actual info too if dey r in stream long enough_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: That’s quite like a hive mind then, no?_

 

_STILES:  to some extend yes but we still retain our own independence since we dont all think same but true it does help get a lot of the negative stuff around independent thinkin out of the way_

 

_STILES: its a perfect democracy dey say becos we understand each other and nano sharing inclines us to look in the same direction which is to say it goes above needs of one person yanno_

 

_STILES: idk much bout it first hand tbh just theory_

 

_STILES: been always either just me n mom or just me yanno_

 

_STILES: the times when i was a part of the stream were rather overwhelming to say the least_

 

_STILES: so many ghost stuff yanno_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I guess it’s good you never gotten used to it since then it would be harder for you to function on the Beacon. With any Nano stream around..._

 

_STILES: i guess?_

 

_STILES: never thought of dat like dat tbh_

 

_STILES: look at yu all positive_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Someone ought to be._

 

_STILES: r we still playin?_

 

_STILES: your turn?_

 

_STILES: ah no mine_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Mine._

 

_STILES: so truth or dare?_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Truth I guess. I don’t feel like getting into trouble on this ship._

 

_STILES: wise_

 

_STILES: yet foolish muhaha_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: So what do you want to know?_

 

_STILES: hm hm hmmm_

 

_STILES: oooh_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I don’t like the sound of that._

 

_STILES: so out of the whole beacon crew, who is the most attractive? go_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I don’t really know._

 

_STILES: or the most comfy to be around or so then_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: I suppose Boyd then._

 

_STILES: wha_

 

_STILES: not me?_

 

_STILES: duuud_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Or I didn’t realize we were playing the lie or dare game. Well, let me amend that. You, Stiles, of course you, it’s always been you._

 

_STILES: way to rub it in_

 

_STILES: i am sick i deserve some love and appreciation_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Stop playing the sick card. It won’t get you anywhere._

 

_STILES: wont it tho?_

 

_STILES:  shame shame_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Not with me anyways._

 

_STILES: and here i was tryin to win yor heart over_

 

_STILES: triple shame_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ:  Stiles, truth or dare?_

 

_STILES:  truth i guess_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Choose the dare._

 

_STILES:  wat no_

 

_STILES:  we already agreed it makes little to no sense_

 

_STILES:  besides i cant really do much like dis_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ:  Stiles, choose the dare._

 

_STILES: ugh_

 

_STILES: fine_

 

_STILES: dare den_

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Force the quarantine open for me. I need to get in._

 

_・･●・○゜ﾟ: Right now._


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Surprise! I was so motivated by all the kind words, I just went on and finished the next chapter earlier! Happy Easter~
> 
> __________

 

 

Derek actually thought the door wasn’t even gonna open at first. It looked like a rather ridiculous request even under the pretense of a game. Especially as a game. And yet he waited. Hoping.

He watched as it slid open within a few moments, revealing Stiles - his eyes were wide, his body was naked and oh, his body… Derek forced himself to look at it properly even if his first reflex was to avert his eyes and not acknowledge it at all. But he needed to. He needed the sight to fuel his resolve.

Stiles’ skin looked nothing like before. If it had looked awful to Derek before, now it was… either full of swollen blisters or so raw and opened it couldn’t exact be considered skin anymore. He looked almost like a… corpse. But he wasn’t one. He was still alive, his lungs were still bring in the needed oxygen, his heart was still pumping blood - he could hear all of that. He could see it in the spark of Stiles’ eyes. Life. Derek needed to protect that life. He had to.

“Derek, what?” Stiles asked breathlessly. Before any of them could say anything more, two Nanos rushed into the view, moving around frantically, watching Stiles, running at the door.

“Wait, no, wait!” Derek begged. “I need to get in. Tell them to let me in. Tell them I can help.”

Stiles smiled sadly as one of the medics put his hand at the pad next to the door. “You can’t.”

Derek stepped into the door frame to block the automatic closing sequence. “Try me.”

But Stiles remained silent. That sadness of his smile spread over his whole face. He took a step back, waving at the medics. One of them advanced on Derek to get rid of him.

Derek lifted his holo, trying to open a very bad nano translator he had found in the system. “Shit, this thing is not… I can help him. I can help you, Stiles, but you have to let me.”

Stiles turned away, his shoulders sagging. The medic with four strong arms pushed Derek out off the door… or tried to, but Derek didn’t let him. He pointed at Stiles, glared, huffed… trying to convey his intentions but the Nanos were adamant about getting him out and reinstall their perfectly guarded quarantine.

“I dare you, Stiles! I dare you.”

He could barely hear the whispered answer: “It’s not your turn, Derek…”

Derek grabbed the door frame to get a better leverage against the Nano medic. He was turning out to be stronger than expected.

“Stiles” he said desperately. “Please.”

That did it. Stiles whirled his fingers around and the Nano medic stepped away from Derek. Not happily, but still.

Derek followed Stiles deeper into the station, watched as his skin stretched out as he moved, watched it crack open over his joints, felt the heat radiating from the inflation. Stiles tried to play it cool, but it was clear each movement hurt him enough to make him hold his breath

He walked to a pod-sized block of gelatin-like substance and sat down into it. It enveloped his body, soothing his skin, cooling it down and Stiles closed his eyes for a second to enjoy the effects, before he turned them up at Derek.

The Nanos were watching him impatiently too, but he paid them no attention. This was it.

“Well? Go ahead.” Stiles gestured, lifting his arms out of the gelatin. “I can interpret for you.”

“It will be faster if I show them,” Derek said. “Show you.”

He watched Stiles twirl his fingers and then put them hurriedly back into the gelatin. He looked so fucking tired, so defeated, even if he tried not to… the fact that Derek could actually see it on his face meant it was visible enough to the ignorant ones as well. Derek hated to see him like this. He deserved so much better…

 _And he shall get i_ t, Derek thought as he closed his eyes and ordered his body to shift. It was an easy shift when it came to the shape since it was similar to his own human one, but it was what was on the inside that took him the longest. He was still in progress of refining it when he opened his eyes again.

Stiles’ mouth was agape. “Holy…” He didn’t get further, clearly in loss for words. His eyes flickered briefly to the Nanos standing not so far away and then back to Derek.

“Holy shit,” he repeated. “You’re a Shifter?”

“Yes,” Derek answered, the voice an echo of Stiles’ own. He glanced down at himself. At the long limbs, the pale skin.

“How?” Stiles asked.

Derek frowned. “I was born that way?”

“No, how?” Stiles lifted his hand again and gestured at his new shape. “You’ve just turned into a perfect copy of me as far as I can tell. Like… how did you do that?”

“Boyd send me your personal files. Secretly. Including all the scans they did of you back at IA,” Derek said, shrugging. “Once I know the logistics down to a cellular level, it’s rather easy.”

Stiles watched him, his eyes huge. Was it hope Derek could see in them? He couldn’t tell.

“They say Shifters can replicate anybody in such a detail, that you wouldn’t know a difference. Anatomically anyways...”

Derek nodded. “Yes, we can.”

“Which means…” Stiles closed his mouth before he could continue. It seemed he was afraid to voice what he already knew. Scared to give himself hope.

That was okay though. Derek wasn’t afraid of any of that. “It means I can create exact replicas of your Nanos inside of this body. More than that, I can create an endless supply of them provided I get the nourishment needed for it. We can flood you with them and get rid of the poison.”

Stiles just stared.

“Is this real,” he finally decided to say.

“Yes.”

“Well, shit.”

Derek grinned.

 

~o~

 

His plan had some holes - it was a very primitive-level plan, since Derek barely knew anything about medicine but what he did know, was building and rebuilding cells. That, he was good at. So he watched silently as the Nano medics conducted a very complicated debate with Stiles.

And then it finally came down to the practice. They hooked him up to some sort of improvised nourishment mixture and sat him down right next to the gelatin pod.

“So, ready?” Stiles said, leaning over from where he was macerating.

“I was ready for a while,” Derek answered back, unimpressed.

Stiles just shrugged. “Yea, well… I was eager to start too, but not before making sure I won’t suck you dry. That’s not how I do my business.”

Derek didn’t answer mostly because he didn’t understand Stiles was on about.

“Alright, let’s do this,” he reached over and grabbed his hand. His fingers felt fragile under Derek’s, but he squeezed right back anyways.

“So… we figured the poison holding Nanos within me won’t know the difference between my and your body. It will just continue to spread and envelope your skin too...thus allowing the Nanos to flow through if we touch like this? It will think of you as some sort of an extension of my body it previously missed.”

Derek nodded. He already knew all that, but it seemed the narrating was keeping Stiles calm so he didn’t try to interrupt  him.

“The Nanos you create should recognize my body in the same way. They should hurry to repair the damage without much prompting so… you shouldn’t have to do anything special,” Stiles kept going.

Derek watched their joined hands for a while, but he couldn’t see any light… or any sort of transfer happening.

“How do we know it’s working?” he asked.

“We won’t for a while, I guess,” Stiles admitted lifting his eyes from their tangle fingers. He looked over at the Nanos and interpreted: “They do have a Nano scanner here, but… they don’t wanna risk hitting me with the rays right now, so we’ll just have to wait it out and see.”

Derek shrugged to show he didn’t mind and leaned back in his chair, his hand still nestled firmly in Stiles’.

“I don’t feel a decrease of Nanos yet,” he said after a few heartbeats. “I will keep producing them though, just so I am ready once the process begins.”

Stiles was watching him curiously. Derek looked back. “What?”

“You said it was a holo suit,” Stiles said, a slightly accusatory tone creeping into his voice.

“I lied,” Derek admitted.

“And the rest of it?” Stiles asked, shaking his free hand to bring up his holo. He moved his finger and the feed scrolled through the chat. “The rest was a lie too? It didn’t feel like it…”

Derek sighed. “That’s because it wasn’t a lie.”

“Oh, okay…”

Derek squeezed his hand a tad more tightly. “Now you know the truth, so…”

“Myea…”

The silence that enveloped them was awkward at first, but then Stiles somehow started to talk again, because… how could he not talk? Derek never experienced him silent for too long.

“So how many life forms can you change into?” he asked curiously.

“How many life forms are there in the universe?” Derek mused idly. “I guess that many.”

Stiles whistled, nestling himself deeper into the gelatin. That left only his head and his hand peeking out. “That’s a pretty bad-ass superpower, man.”

Derek just shrugged, looking up at the ceiling. “I thought the same about yours, you know.”

“Oh, shut up,” Stiles said, snorting.

“It’s true.”

“You can change into any fucking thing. How is that better than having Nanos?” Stiles questioned.

“Everything has its limits and disadvantages,” Derek said.

They were silent for a while, until Stiles’ eye flew open and looked at Derek as if he actually saw him for the very first time. Which… couldn’t really be true because Derek looked exactly like Stiles at that moment.

“What is the natural form for a Shifter?” Stiles asked. “Nobody really knows that, do they?”

Derek squirmed in his seat. “Stiles, I really need to focus on the Nano production. You asking questions is not helpful…”

“Derek,” Stiles insisted, shaking his hand. “Similar to a werewolf, isn’t it?”

The fact that Derek chose not to answer only confirmed his theory.

“Oh my... Stars!” Stiles exclaimed, slapping his gelatin-covered hand across his face. “It was you!” he pointed at Derek. “Back on Moon. That thing that tore through the pod area. It was you!”

Derek pursed his lips and remained stubbornly quiet.

“You tried to get me back, dude,” Stiles said in awe. “Dude… you like… fucking… it was you, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” he admitted reluctantly. “But I failed. So I don’t really see the point of discussing it any further.”

Stiles was looking at him in wonder and Derek could see the wheels inside his head turning by the speed of light and he didn’t like it. The scrutiny of it. The closeness. The intimacy. But there was nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run. He needed to remain there and hold his hand.

“Can you turn into a Whittemorian too?” Stiles asked and Derek gave out such a deep sign he was surprised he didn’t choke.

“Shit,” Stiles muttered, sinking back into his gelatin. “Shhhhhh,” came out through. He pushed himself up a bit to reveal his mouth again and gaped.

“You went into the facility to get me?” he asked.

Derek looked away.

Stiles shook his hand to get his attention. “Did you?”

“For the love of… _yes_ , I did,” Derek admitted angrily. “Now can you shut up so I can concentrate on my cells for once?”

Stiles closed his mouth and nodded, sinking back. Still, Derek could feel him glancing his way every-so-often, study his own features as if he was trying to understand some deeper truth.

Derek almost wished there was a change in his condition already to take the attention off him.

“You need to stop trying to save me, dude,” Stiles whispered. “It’s fucking lame.”

“Stop getting into trouble then,” Derek countered. “That’s fucking lamer.”

Stiles snickered and Derek couldn’t help the corner of his mouth going up as well.

A Nano medic came over to check on his nourishment mixture and Derek leaned back and closed his eyes. The light of the stream was a bit too much for him. Even with Stiles’ eyes that seemed to filter the intensity a bit more than human eyes would. It didn’t seem as harsh through his eyelids. It didn’t feel like scorching fire… more like a gentle warm candle flickering in the middle of the night. It was rather soothing.

He turned his senses inside out and concentrated on the Nanos inside of him. He had no idea how to actually control them, how to make them do stuff, but their presence inside of him made him feel a bit less empty. It felt like his body could go on forever like this… regenerating, healing, functioning oh so well for him. It was similar to his Shifter feeling at some many levels and yet so different...

One was clear though, just imagining the Nanos wouldn’t be there in this shift made him sick… just as imagining himself without the Shifter abilities. It was more than sickening. Derek gulped at the thought and forced his eyes open again to distract himself.

Luckily, Stiles seemed to catch up fast enough.

“Any change?” he asked.

Derek shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I-”

“It’s fine, come on.” Stiles smiled, squeezing his fingers. “It will work, just give it time.”

Derek’s eyebrow rose up. “How are you the hopeful one suddenly?”

Stiles smiled and shrugged sheepishly. “Dude, you’re like… hard not to trust after all this, yanno. You honestly should stop before I fall in love with you.”

Derek snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

At that Stiles just smiled and looked away silently and Derek felt a weird pang inside of him, but he pushed it back down. It was all jokes and fun. It was all just gratefulness and such - it wasn’t like Stiles or anybody for that matter would ever… It wasn’t. Of course, it wasn’t. Derek wasn’t ever gonna feel loved again and that was fine. He didn’t want it anyways. He didn’t need it. He wouldn't know how to deal with it. Right. Yes.

He nodded to himself and looked over at their tangled fingers. It was a nice notion… a nice thought. He slid his thumb over the back of Stiles’ hand and sighed. But it was just that.

“I’m not... you know,” Derk confessed. “I think I won’t ever be. I think everybody is better off without such things.”

“Myea, I guess,” Stiles said, his gaze fixed somewhere into the distance. He was tracing the Nano dance around them. Derek did the same. He let the patterns soothe him into a relaxed state. Let them carry his mind somewhere else. Somewhere far away. To a place long lost. To a place where love was a natural emotion. Where it was a part of him. And where he didn’t feel bitter and lost every time somebody mentioned it.

 

~o~

 

He must have dozed off for a bit because the next thing he knew, his skin was burning. He jolted awake, his mind full of fire and smoke and charred bodies… he wanted to run away, but something was holding him down. He couldn’t move away from the fire.

_No._

“Dude, calm down,” came in Stiles’ voice. Derek finally regained his bearings. He was standing a few feet away from the pod, his arm extended all the way over to Stiles who was propped up against the gelatin, halfway out of it, breathing heavily.

“Can you… just…,” he gestured at the chair and Derek nodded, walking quickly back to it.

“Thanks,” Stiles muttered, sinking back. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, His fingers were bleeding over Derek’s.

“I’m…,” Derek starting to say, ready to extricate his hand off Stiles’, but Stiles kept on holding his hand stubbornly.

“You can’t let go now,” he said sternly. “The poison is in you, once you let go it will close up all around and no matter how we connect it will be impossible to transfer anything anymore.”

Derek pursed his lips, squeezing Stiles’ hand guiltily.

“I should be the one saying sorry,” he said, gesturing at Derek’s skin. “It’s gonna be hell for you now…”

Derek looked down at his arm and it was… covered in a red rash. It was burning and itching and Derek wasn’t sure which one of those two he preferred. Both were pretty dreadful. Blisters were rising up on it. Same ones Stiles had all over his skin.

He couldn’t help but reach over and scratch the less red skin. It felt wonderful and then… it felt like a million times worse than before. Derek scrunched his face in distaste.

“This is pretty fucked up,” he confessed.

Stiles snorted. “Welcome to my world.”

“Alright, let’s see what I can do about that.”

Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, he forced a partial shift, doubling the amount of his own Nanos in the term of an exhale. He looked down at his arm again. The rash was still there, but it had stopped spreading. He could even see some some normal patches between the scorching redness.

“More,” he realized. “We need so much more of them.”

“How much did you create?” Stiles asked.

“Doubled them,” Derek said. “It’s nowhere near enough.”

Stiles signed something to the Nano medics. “How many more can you create?”

“I am not sure,” Derek admitted. “As many as I have to, I guess.”

Stiles didn’t say anything to that and he didn’t even have to. Derek was done listening anyways. He was too busy concentrating, forcing his cells to multiply faster, building up dozens after dozens of Nanos to flood his system and thus in turn Stiles’ own.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat like that, his eyes closed, his back rounded as he leaned against his knees. His hand was firmly placed within Stiles’, keeping their connection alive.

It wasn’t long until he got too tired to continue, but still he pushed. He pushed even after his body wanted to give up. He wouldn’t stop until the poison was out of them both.

“Derek,” Stiles shook his hand. “Derek, you need to take a break.”

“I’m fine,” he muttered, lost in his trance.

“No, I’m serious, stop it,” Stiles insisted. Which in turn made Derek open his eyes and glance up at him. He didn’t look much better. The hand connected to Derek’s looked a bit less inflated but other than that… nothing much seemed to have changed, even after Derek poured hundreds of Nanos through him.

“But-” He didn’t know what to say.

“The nourishment mixture was gone long ago,” Stiles told him. “They are mixing up a new one for you, but...I think for now you should rest.”

“Are you feeling any better?” Derek asked, shocked by how little change he could see on the outside.

“That’s not really important right no-”

“Do you?” Derek demanded.

Stiles looked away and Derek… was weirdly glad he didn’t think of lying to him this time.

“This can’t be,” Derek muttered, looking down at their tangled fingers. “I have to-”

“You have to rest,” Stiles said. “You have to rest.”

Except his words were not registering with him properly.

“I can do better,” he said, nodding to himself.

“Yes, you can try again after you-”

“I don’t nee-”

“Yes, you do,” Stiles insisted.

“No, I-”

Stiles relaxed his hand and weren’t it for Derek’s tight hold, his hand would have been free, his only chance of being healed lost forever.

“What the fuck, Stiles?” Derek hissed, using both of his hands to keep their bond secure. “You almost-”

“You will rest now, Derek,” Stiles demanded, looking straight up at him. “You will fucking rest or I will stop this experiment right now.”

“Stiles…”

“No, I fucking mean it,” he cut off. “I fucking mean it. You are not to kill yourself for me, you understand? Not again. Not again, Derek.”

“But I can survive a lot. I won’t- I am not as weak as you might think I am,” Derek argued.

Stiles sighed and patted their joined hands. “I know that. I know. I saw it with my own eyes, yanno. I saw what the snatchers did, I saw what the Whittemorian did… and yet here you are. I know you are strong, but I- I don’t want to do it like this. We have time.”

“We don’t,” Derek said, his eyes skimming over the gelatin pod that concealed Stiles’ still damaged body. “We don’t…”

“We do,” Stiles insisted. “I am not as weak as you might think I am.”

Derek hesitated for a brief moment and then snorted silently. He looked down on the floor. “Alright...alright.”

“Besides, if this doesn’t work, my dad is coming back with some of my clean Nanos. I always leave some with him. He doesn’t want me to do that, but yanno, just in case,” Stiles shrugged. “They could help with a heart attack or so, if he ever....”

“I thought your Nanos can’t survive in organic matter for too long,” Derek wondered.

“Mom gave him an implant,” Stiles explained. “They are fine as long as they are mostly docked there.”

“I see.”

He didn’t exactly feel reassured by any of that.

 

~o~

 

Who would have thought the chair was very easily convertible into a bed. Well, not Derek. Not that it was any kind of helpful to him, he couldn’t sleep on that softness anyways.

And so he settled on the floor next to the gelatin pod, his arm pressed up against its side.

“Don’t worry,” Stiles said leaning over from above. “I won’t let go. You can rest easily.”

Derek blinked up at him as they hooked him up to a second nourishment mixture so that he could regenerate while he takes a brief nap.

“Sure you don’t want the bed?” Stiles asked.

Derek rolled over to his side and pulled his limbs closer to his chest to get more comfortable. “Sure.”

“Or a gelatin pod?” Stiles continued to ask.

Derek looked at his arm. The rash was spreading over it again, burning. He was slowly getting use to it - no, scratch that, this was not something one could actually get used to.

“I’m fine, Stiles,” he said. “I always sleep like this.”

“Even back at the Beacon?” came a frowny question.

“Even back at the Beacon.”

Stiles shifted, pulling his hand into the gelatin to grip it more tightly. “Even back at home?”

Derek stopped in his tracks, opening his eyes again to stare up over the edge of the gelatin. He couldn’t see Stiles like this, but he still watched the edge, wondering.

“Is this what you want to know? As the part of the truth or dare answers I owe you?” he asked at last.

Stiles thought for a bit, humming under his breath. “No, not really.”

And so Derek left the question unanswered. He leaned his head back, putting it on his free hand and then sighed, trying to slip into a sort of a nap that could replenish his energy.

The medics left them to their own devices, shielding their side of the Med from the streams of light, so it was nicely dim there - perfect for sleeping.

“I do have a question though. Tied to our game,” Stiles said after a while.

Derek just hummed under his breath, listening only with half an ear.

“These people that hurt your family,” he started, his voice barely hearable to normal human ears. “Did they get punished for what they’ve done?”

Derek pursed his lips and opened his eyes again. He really didn’t want to talk about this anymore.

“I thought _people_ are only life forms within your circle,” he said, avoiding the topic. Rather clumsily, true, but who could blame him.

“Usually it’s just meant as a group of any life forms. People, yanno,” Stiles shrugged. Derek knew he did because he could feel the pull of it through their linked hands. “So, did they?”

“No.”

Stiles was silent.

“What’s the second thing?” Derek asked, hoping he could get it over with in one swing. Erase the debt. Having it hang in the air for Stiles to demand truth or action any time he felt like it was rather dreadful now that he’d thought about it.

Instead of answering, Stiles squeezed his hand.

Derek frowned. “Stiles.”

Another squeeze. His hand sank lower together with the whole body and Derek bolted upright, seeing Stiles submerged in the gelatin.

“Don’t be an ass,” he said, pulling at the hand. Except, the hand was limb now. And when he looked more closely, the whole body seemed rather limb. Until it started to shake a moment later.

Derek did not hesitate, he jumped closer, grabbed Stiles and pulled him out of the gelatin pod, careful not to let go of his hand. He was unconscious and his body was shaking with some sort of a shock.

There was no time to lose, he turned around and yelled for the medics, who pooled right on tops of Stiles before Derek could even register what was going on.

Derek couldn’t understand a thing. He didn’t know what they were doing, nor what the whole thing was about. But he knew one thing for sure - they were running out of time. He needed to heal Stiles as soon as possible, otherwise…


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Once again, thank you all for reading. The picture will follow soon, I already have it sketched out, but it's a scenery pic and I am not so good at those so I wanna take my time and not stress about finishing it today. Hope you will enjoy the chapter anyways! It's quite a special one to me~ 
> 
> EDIT: Pic online now and yes, I chickened out on the actual Shifter design and went with a normal wolf. I have no other excuse than being lazy :D
> 
> __________

 

 

The light in the Med was dim, almost non-existent. The medics decided to withdraw the most of the stream from the cabin.

Stiles was… not good. His body was burning high. So high it must have disturbed the chemical composition of his gelatin pod. With the concoction no longer able to support his weight, Stiles sank and almost drowned in it.

At least that’s what Derek assumed. He couldn’t really communicate with the Nano medics. He didn’t even try. He didn’t want to know… he didn’t want to know how much time Stiles had left, how much until the poison would win over. He could feel it himself… the poison was spreading up his arm again and it was burning worse than before…

Derek sat there, unable to sleep, but immensely tired, holding Stiles’ hand between both of his own, staring. He couldn’t sleep even if the Nanos gestured to him he should. Was that what they meant? He assumed so.

He pretended not to understand them. Pretended not to understand what they meant by pointing at their joined hands. Pretended not to see them pulling their own hands apart urgently.

He just shook his head and stared at Stiles. He couldn’t let go. Not now. Not yet. If ever. How far would he go to save him? Would he keep holding Stiles’ hand until the poison consumed him as well? He was pretty sure he could force the poison out of his own body. So why wasn’t it as easy to push it off Stiles’ own withering one?

It was hard to create Nanos for both of them. It was even harder to flood Stiles’ body with an army of Nanos. He was weak. He wasn’t as strong. He was… a fool. He couldn’t save Stiles. He couldn’t save his own pack for fucks sake, why did he think he could save Stiles? Stiles wasn’t pack, he wasn’t… oh stars, he wished his mom were here. He wished...

If his dad were here, if Peter were, if maybe Laura or the Cora or... Derek looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. Oh stars… _oh stars_ … why? It’s him isn’t it? It’s him causing all of this. _People_ … people around him end up dead sooner or later. He is cursed. No. He’s poison. _He is the poison._

Maybe he should just give it up. Maybe he should just let go… He looked down at Stiles, his face feeling tight.

“I can’t save you,” he whispered, squeezing Stiles’ hand. “I can’t do this.”

Stiles didn’t answer. He was still unconscious. Derek hoped he would answer. Derek hoped for some kind of resolution, forgiveness even, but of course he didn’t really deserve any of that so… why should he get one?

The universe was cruel. It was cruel and unfair and Derek was sick of it, he was so sick. He wanted… he used to _want_ so many things when he was a child and the universe stripped him off everything. No. He stripped himself. He trusted Kate, showed her a way into their world and so caused the ultimate demise of their species.

Similarly, he let Stiles be captured, he didn’t get to him in time, he didn’t save him from the pod, didn’t find him in time, didn’t… didn’t do so many things he should have done for him.

 _Wait… wait, no wait,_ Derek thought, frowning down at the unmoving body. _No, wait. Wait…_ He swallowed the tightness built in his throat and took a deep breath in. _Calm down._ _What the hell?_ What the hell was going on? He shouldn’t be this emotional over a stranger, should he? And Stiles was a stranger, nothing else. Maybe a coworker of sorts at most? Maybe… in a weird sense... maybe a friend? But they didn’t know each other that long. He wasn’t…

 _Oh shit. Oh... shit. Shit._  He kept staring at Stiles, shocked, internal panic seizing his heart. As if staring at Stiles would give him the answer he already somehow… he had known it for a while though, hadn’t he? The reason why he kept running after Stiles. The reason he… the reason why he somehow lingered around him. How he was receptive to the sound of his voice even from afar, his shadow, his… _oh. Oh._

He couldn’t let go. There was no way he could let go. He needed to save him.

Derek laughed. He felt panicky. He laughed and then sighed.

He needed to save Stiles.

And then he needed to get the fuck away.

As far as he could.

As soon as he could.

Never see him again.

Ever.

And with that he closed his eyes and immersed himself in the ancient rituals of his pack - even if only in his mind - he focused on his ancestors, on his pack, his siblings, his parents, his family and drew power from them. The world around him faded and it was just him and his memories. His memories that fueled his shift, that fueled the Nano-creation, that fueled his resolve.

 

~o~

 

“Derr, mom said you have to play with me!” Cora shouted, running after him. Well, she was more like following his around really, the big baby.

Derek was annoyed. Obviously. He wanted to do his own thing. Not babysit his little sister. Why wouldn’t they just let him do his own thing?

“Derrr,” she wailed, snapping at his tail. He growled at her and sped up up the forest hill.

“Derr, mom said so,” she continued.

“I don’t wanna play with you,” he snapped. “Go play with Laura.”

“Nooo,” she cried. “Laura doesn’t want me around, she has her mate now.” She pretended to retch and then sped up after him. “They’re all gooey-eyed and gross, Derr. _You_ play with me!”

“Leave me alooone,” he growled in annoyance. “I have stuff to do.”

“What stuff?” She was running alongside him, looking around as if the passing trees would reveal his big plans.

“Nothing. Go away,” he said.

“Deeeerrrr,” she wailed again, bumping into him.

He stopped and snapped at her again. He didn’t to it fiercely enough to really hurt her, but he needed her to understand that the games were over. She whimpered, but didn’t run away.

“Cora, I am serious, go away,” he growled, head-butting her gently. “Go away.”

She just growled back, nipping at his ear. “I promise I won’t annoy you, pleaaaase.”

“No,” he said, pushing her away with his head. “Go back.”

“No,” she argued, pushing at him. She wasn’t as strong as he was, but then again, he wasn’t really using anywhere near his full strength around her.

“Please, Derek, pleaaase,” she yowled, cuddling into his neck. “Please, I won’t be annoying, please. I wanna play with you.”

He stepped away to look at her. “You promise?”

“I promise. I’ll be all good,” she answered, letting her head sink down to feign innocence. Derek knew she didn’t have a pinch of innocence in her, so he wasn't really fooled that easily, but still… he had a soft spot for his younger siblings. Even if they were annoying the shit out of him sometimes.

“Okay,” he said finally, watching Cora squeal in happiness. “You can come with me, but you can’t tell anybody what we’re doing, okay?”

“Yes,” she smiled.

“It’s a secret, okay?” he insisted.

“Yes!”

“Promise you won’t tell anybody I took you there, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Not even mom.”

“Not even mom.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

He led them up the hill, along the top of the hillside and through the tightening lines of trees up until the trees thinned out and the ground slowly changed from dirt and leaves into stones. They could hear the sound of water from all the way before already, but now it got so much more vibrant. It resonated around the rocky area, mixing into a harsh melody. Derek loved it. He really did, but they weren’t allowed to go there, because it was apparently too dangerous for them to be climbing over the wet rocks. Cora knew that too. The mischievous twinkle in her eye told him she was just as excited as him.

He stopped at the edge of the rocky slope. “Alright, so, I found this secret path that leads under the waterfall, okay? And I am building a cave there.”

“Oh, I wanna see!” Cora squeaked.

“No, you will wait here,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.

“Aww, no, Derek, I wanna see. I will be careful. I wanna see. Please.” She nudged his shoulder, her tail wiggling around in excitement. “Pleaaase.”

He signed. “Okay, but you will be careful, yeah?”

“Yeaaah!” she squealed.

They descended down the steep slope, water drops flying all around them. Halfway through Derek led them onto a small path that he had found before. It was a pretty safe path, so he didn’t even watch Cora anymore, too excited to see if his cave changed anyhow… not that it would have, but still.

They reached the end of the path. It ended rather abruptly a few tails away from the actual waterfall. Their fur was utterly drenched. But that was fine. They would dry out before heading back home. If not they would lie and say they had been swimming in the pond. It was fine. It was all fine.

Until it wasn’t fine. There was a yelp, a slide of stones and Cora was gone. He didn’t see her fall. Didn’t see her fly through the air. Didn’t see anything because he still couldn’t comprehend why she wasn’t right behind him. He only heard the crunch of bones and then saw her lying askew below.

She was whimpering in pain and… Derek just stared. He somehow expected her to shift right away and be fine, but she only twitched and sobbed. As if it was impossible for her to move. As if she couldn’t shift.

“Shift, you moron!” he yelled, panicked.

“It hurts,” she sobbed, curling into herself. He breath was ragged and there was blood and… Derek ignored the bones sticking out of her body and... all the other stuff.

“Just shift!” he yelled again.

“Nooo,” she cried. “I want my mommy.”

Derek didn’t know what to do. He was caught between being scared to call their pack and panicked his sister would die. Why wasn’t she shifting? Why wasn’t she _fucking_ shifting?

“Cora! Cora, shift!”

“Mommy,” she cried.

“No, shift, shift! You will be fine, you just have to shift””

“Mommyyyy,” she cried, but her voice was growing weak.

“Cora? Cora!”

His panic won over and he drew out a long and anguished howl. His pack would be there soon. They will help him. They will help Cora.

  


~o~

 

_Burning._

_If you were given one more chance, how far would you go to save them?_

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

“So, you look so much happier lately, could that be cause of Paige, hmmm?” Laura pried as they lay basking in the evening sun.

“Paige what?” He wasn’t really listening, lost in his own thoughts.

She nudged him with her leg. “Oh come on. Just look at you, smiling all dopely, it’s a surprise mom didn’t caught up to it yet.”

Derek looked up at his older sister. “Is it that obvious?”

“Hell yeah,” she snorted out.

Derek pursed lips and looked away guiltily. He was trying really hard not to let anyone notice how happy he was lately, but it would seem he wasn’t good enough in hiding his emotions. Not yet anyways.

“Ah come on, it’s just me,” she said, kicking his leg again. He rolled away so she couldn’t reach him anymore. “Mom doesn’t suspect a thing.”

He sighed. _Good._

There was silence again for a while and Derek hoped Laura would just drop it, but why would he think that was even a realistic hope was beyond him. Of course she wouldn’t drop it.

“I won’t tell on you if you tell me about it,” she said, grinning at him.

He frowned grumpily. “No.”

“Aww, come on, Derek. I am all in for young love,” she said smiling.

“No, you’re just nosy,” he argued.

Laura shrugged. “Well maybe, but you want to keep it a secret and my silence does come with a price.”

Derek groaned, hiding his head under his paws. He really didn't want to talk about it. Not because he was embarrassed, but because he was scared… scared somebody would find out the truth and forbid him to meet her ever again.

He could hear Laura shuffling closed, until she was lying on top of him pushing him down with her freakishly heavy body.

“Come on, lil’ bro,” she said, rolling over on top of him. “Tell your older sister. She can give you some nice pointers on sex and all that.”

“Eww no,” he said, trying to squirm away from her.

“Don’t ewww me,” she barked, nipping playfully at his paw. “Come on, spill it or I’ll tell mom you’ve been sneaking away.”

He stopped struggling and looked at her unhappily. “You wouldn’t, would you?”

She rolled off him, sensing the atmosphere shift into more serious waters. She sniffed the air, looking up at the skies of their home world. “Well, no, I wouldn’t, I guess. But still.”

Silence fell over the somber mood and for a bit there were just the sounds of a far-away waterfall and the wind gently rustling the leaves around them.

“It’s not Paige,” Derek confessed in the end. “It’s… someone else.”

Laura looked over at him, obviously trying to stifle her curiosity. “Who?”

“I can’t tell,” he said, looking away.

Laura rolled her eyes, putting her head on her paws. “You’re no fun, Der. Yanno you can just tell me, right? It’s not like I would tell or yanno… _disapprove_.”

Derek sighed, nudging a leaf with his nose. He didn’t feel as happy anymore. He never was when he realized how much he had to hide from his pack. It was a big secret. A bad one. Correction - it would be a bad secret for mom because she would definitely disapprove and force him to break it up, but Laura… maybe she would understand?

He opened his mouth to say something more, but the words didn’t come out. He closed it again, frustrated.

Laura looked at him, sensing his indecision. “Okay, I will give you a discount, since you seem genuinely happy. You have to tell me one thing. And not like some random shit, I want something spicy, ok? Go.”

Derek hummed, thinking.

“She is older than me,” he said.

Laura squinted at him. “How much older?”

“Older than you.”

“Older than mom?”

Derek scrunched his face. “I don’t think so?” It wasn’t like he knew how to recount human years into those of a Shifter. He was going utterly by a feeling here.

“I see,” she said, her mouth doing that weird movement it always did when she was thinking. She was obviously trying to figure out who he was talking about. Luckily, there was no way she could have guessed it.

“Derek,” she said seriously then. “If she is older then you definitely need some pointers on sex. Can’t disapp-”

He jumped up to his feet, trotting away. “Not listening!”

“Derek!”

“Not listening, BYE LAURA!”

 

~o~

 

_Burning._

_If you were given one more chance, how far would you go to save them?_

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

“You missed one. Or more ones for that matter,” his dad said, flicking his ear. It was still pointy. Derek groaned and covered it with his human hand.

“It’s not like anybody would notice such small things,” he complained.

“Yes, they will,” his dad said. “You would notice if a Shifter had some odd body part no matter how small of an attribute that would be. It’s how brains work. They generalize and compare everything to that general idea. Now granted each brain generalizes from a different sample, but anything that sticks out is analyzed. If you want to blend it better, you have to notice all the details and replicate them without a second thought.”

Derek sighed sitting down clumsily. This human form was a rather unstable one. How did they walk on such weak twigs, Derek just didn’t understand.

“What’s the point,” he moaned. “It’s not like we will ever go out there. I don’t need to know how to blend in.”

His dad hummed under his breath and sat down. His human shift was prefect down to a mole of course. Derek looked at him grumpily. _Stupid dad and his stupidly perfect shifting._

“Well, you never know,” his dad started, but Derek interrupted him right away: “I know, you know, we all know. Mom wouldn’t allow it anyways, so… so what’s the point?

His hand shifted back to its original form and Derek groaned shaking them around as if that would force them to regain that fickle human form again. It didn’t.

“Well, I can’t talk for what your mother will decide for the pack or what the mothers will decide for all the packs  for that matter, but…”

“We will never be allowed to go out there, won’t we?” Derek signed, looking up at the vast skies above them. “Why? Like, I get it’s dangerous, but…”

“You know why, Derek,” his dad said. “Shifting is a too good of an ability to-”

“Okay, I get that, but…” Derek signed. “It’s not like they would know it’s us, right? We can shift? Hide? We can-”

His dad snorted, poking his ear. “Not with these weak skills, you won’t. And it’s not just about the shape, it’s also about all the other things - behavior, speech, added abilities. How would you blend in with humans when you can barely stand on their two legs?”

“Well, I would learn that more properly before going out there,” Derek said, covering his faulty ear with his faulty hand. “Still.”

His dad nodded, looking up at the sky himself. “I get it.”

“You don’t.”

“Oh please, of course I do,” he snorted. “I would love to go out there myself. See all the shapes. Try them all out…” he gestured at the holo on his wrist and scrolled through the pictures of humans. “There are so many variables of each race, so many combinations.” He signed wistfully. “It’s not something they categorize in these. Being able to see it in flesh would make it so much better. Alas-”

Derek pursed his lips.

“Look,” his dad said, putting his hand on _his_ shoulder. Derek shook it off. He stood up and shook his head. “Can I leave now?”

His dad smirked and gestured to his wobbly legs. “If you think you can.”

Derek growled flopping down on the leaves. “This is so unfair! Why can’t we just go wherever we please?”

“You know why,” his dad said patiently.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You know the stories.”

“They’re just stories,” he grumbled.

His dad leaned in closer and looked at him. His eyes were so different from what he was used to. They were green as the leaves around them and… it was rather weird seeing the same color in eyes.

“You know they’re not just stories,” he said seriously. “It’s reality. It’s happening now all over the universe. Just because it’s not happening to our pack, to our planet, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. It might not seem so, but it is. There are races who would love to explore our abilities. Who would love to take our children and use them for-”

“I would be careful, dad,” he whined rather than said. “I would be. I wouldn’t bring in any danger. They wouldn’t know.”

“Derek…”

“It’s so unfair!”

“Derek…”

“It is!”

“Okay,” his dad said, standing up. “Let’s make a deal.”

Derek waited for him to continue, his frustration slowly seeping away from his body. One could never really be frustrated around his dad, he was too mellow of a Shifter.

“If you learn to shift at least twenty shapes, including ten individual combinations for each… if you will be able to do that up to my satisfaction, _my_ satisfaction, Derek, okay? Then I will recommend you for the external.”

Derek’s heard quickened. “But… that’s way above…”

“Twenty plus ten combinations, Derek. In perfect detail. Master that and you can have a chance of becoming one of them.”

Derek couldn’t believe something like that was possible. “But mom said she will never-”

“Oh, did you think that’s all?” his dad laughed, folding his hands over his chest. “Oh no, buddy, External training is really tough, only a half a dozen Shifters in a motherreign get to join the universe out there. Your uncle Peter had to go through a few rounds to even be eligible enough.”

Derek’s face fell. “So, it’s-”

“Possible. It’s possible.” His dad smiled. “If you work hard enough, anything’s possible.”

“But mom-”

“Leave your mother to me,” his dad said, reaching out a hand to him. “Now, come on, let’s see if we can make this human shift work.”

 

~o~

 

_Burning._

_If you were given one more chance, how far would you go to save them?_

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

“What do I do?” Alex asked rather desperately. He was holding up Oliver, trying to soothe him. The other twin was standing next to them, bawling his lungs out as well. “Derek, help?”

Derek looked up from his holo and sighed. “Just wait for them to calm down.”

“Mate, come on,” he begged, gesturing at Josh, who was by then rolling on the ground, howling. Oliver would have followed him down too, weren’t it for the fact that Alex was holding him tightly in his arms.

Derek closed the chat window and got up to join the chaos.

“What do I do?” Alex asked. He knelt down and let Oliver tear himself from his hold and join his twin on the ground. Derek was surprised their combined temper-tantrum didn’t cause a massive earthquake.

“Just let them be,” Derek advised.

“Seriously? Your mom will kill me if she comes back to _this_ ,” he said gesturing at the ground. “I failed her test!”

Derek snorted, walking to them. “It’s no test.”

“Yeah, that’s what you are supposed to say.”

“No, really,” Derek said, shaking his head. “There was just nobody else to babysit.”

Alex looked pointedly at him.

“I am busy,” he said, shrugging.

“Oh come on, you’re here to make sure I won’t fuck up by letting them eat dirt or something,” he said, unconvinced. “Now, this is one of those situations where you jump in and save my ass and I will owe you some really bizarre favor for not telling on me.”

Oliver chose that moment to pick up a rock and throw it at his brother, who was slowly calming down again. Alex cursed and kicked out his leg to bring the rock off its trajectory. It hit the nearby wall, bounced of it and broke a jar in the corner.

“Well, great,” he sighed just as Josh started to bawl in full volume again, yelling at his brother.

Alex looked at Derek. “By this point you could get literally anything for helping me.”

Derek perked up. “Anything?”

“Anything, dude, come on,” he said, bending down to grab Josh’ hand before he could hit his twin in the face.

Derek nodded, turned around and grabbed Oliver by the nape of his neck. He pulled him to the other side of the room and sat him down.

“Stay.”

“NO!” Oliver shrieked, kicking him. “Joshie stole my toy! I want mah tooooy!”

“What toy?” Derek asked, staying in a safe distance.

“Mah toooooy,” Oliver wailed, throwing himself on the ground again, his little legs flailing. “Mah tooooy!”

Derek looked over at Alex, who had Josh cornered on the other side of the room. Otherwise he would probably run over and try to hit his brother again.

“Any idea?”

“None. They weren’t playing with any toys,” Alex said, looking around. Josh tried to slide in between him and the nest, but Alex was quick enough to bar his way.

“What toy did you take from your brother?” Alex asked him.

“It’s mah toy, Oli is lying!” Josh yelled.

“No, it’s mah toy!” Olived yelled back.

“MAH!”

“MAH TOY!”

“YOU STINKY LIAR!”

“YOU STINK!”

“NO, YOU STINK!”

“NO, YOU!”

“ENOUGH!” Derek barked, baring his teeth. He let his eyes flash to shut them up. And it worked, for like a tiny brief moment both of them were quiet, shocked and then they started to bawl again.

“DERRIE, YOU BIG MEANIE!”

“DERRIE, YOU STINK!”

“YOU STINK!”

“MAH TOY!”

“MAAAAAAAAAH!”

Derek sighed and got up. He walked back onto the nest. Alex’ eyes were following him questioningly.

Derek beckoned him to come too.

“Alright, well, we are bored with you, so you can continue whatever you are doing and me and Alex are gonna watch some stuff on my holo.”

Derek sprawled on top of the nest and patted the place right next to him for Alex to lie down too. He did so rather hesitantly, looking back and forth between the twins. They were still bawling on the ground and Josh was crawling to his brother to presumably hit him again.

Alex pursed his lips. “You sure about this?”

“Yeah,” Derek said, scrolling through his feed. He put on their favorite show and waited. Just as the intro song started, the bawling stopped and Josh’ head turned around. He zeroed in on the holo and then sniffled.

Oliver’s head popped up from behind the pillows he had been destroying just a moment ago.

“Whatcha watchin?” he called from over the other side of the room.

Josh took a few steps closer to them.

“Just some stuff,” Derek said. “You can come watch too if ya want.”

Oliver looked over at his brother as if he was wondering if they should resume their shouting match or not, but Josh was already sitting at the edge of their nest stretching his neck to get a better view of the alien animals on the screen.

Oliver sniffled and walked over, making sure to walk all around the room to sit down at the other side of the nest. He slowly moved in closer to Derek, his face covered in snot just as his twin’s.

They were both watching the holo now, the fight forgotten.

Alex sighed. “Thanks.”

“Don’t forget you owe me.”

“Feel free to demand the favor from Laura anytime. She pays our debts on her side and I do at mine.”

Derek chuckled, nudging his shoulder playfully. “You better-”

“Shhhhh,” Josh hissed, cuddling to Derek’s side, his eyes glued to the holo. Oliver was on the other side cuddling to Alex’s side.

They seemed to have calmed down and Derek turned his eyes to the holo as well, watching the numbers on his chat icon in the corner add up slowly and angrily. He dreaded the consequences of not responding right away.

 

~o~

 

_Burning._

_If you were given one more chance, how far would you go to save them?_

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

He was running through a dark forest, his lungs were burning and his muscles aching, but he’d never felt better.

The three moons shone bright above them, slowly advancing on their alignment, steadily approaching the total triple eclipse. It was a holy night, a special one. One that only occurs every hundred motherreigns and all of the packs were out in the forests, running as one.

A howl came from afar and Derek joined before any of his kin could. It was an endless drawl, the echoes carrying their cry into the distance - a song that enveloped their whole planet for just this night, seeping into the flora all around them, into their flesh and bones, into their souls.

Derek cut through a clearing, slowing down. He couldn’t sense any of his pack in a direct vicinity, but that was okay. He wanted to be alone… even though he couldn’t exactly be alone. The echoes of the distant howl rejoined with him again and he lifted his head to help them carry on.

And as he opened his eyes and looked up at the dark skies full of stars, full of foreign life… the three moons aligned, seemingly merging into one huge ball of yellow light. Derek’s eyes responded in turn, flashing the color back at the moon. It was beautiful. It was mesmerizing. It was…

“That's rather something, isn’t it?” Talia said from behind him.

Her approach didn’t startle him, he heard her getting nearer and nearer with each calm breath he took. She sat down next to him, watching the moon wane.

“Oh stars,” she whispered as the moon started to slowly turn red.

Derek watched it, but it was happening so slow, that his eyes got distracted by the small twinkling lights all over the sky. The stars… and he wondered.

“It’s a shame nobody else can see this,” he said after a while.

“Nobody else would be worthy,” his mother answered. “Only a Shifter could appreciate this moment in its full glory - only we can hear the echoes of our ancestors within the long howl. Only we can feel the pull of this sacred eclipse. To Outsiders, it would be merely nature playing around.“

She didn’t sound bitter telling him any of that. She said it as if she was only stating a well-known fact. And Derek hated it. He hated how dismissive she was toward the Outside.

“You don’t know that,” he said defensively.

She didn’t answer and that made him even more annoyed. He wanted her to answer. He wanted her to argue and he wanted to have an open discussion about it all, but she never saw a point in talking about the Outside. Her mind was made up and he couldn’t bear that.

He could hear Kate laughing at his mom in the back of his head. _They are all retarded for ignoring the rest of the universe_ , she had gigged, _not you, you are smart, aren’t you? You know what is important. Not like that mother of yours._

“Mom I… I want to go out there,” he said, his voice hushed. She looked over at him, the red moon shining in her fur, gleaming in her eyes.

“Derek, not now.”

“But when, mom?” he asked, pushing the question out between his teeth. “It’s always not now. And I-”

“Not now, not ever,” she said, redness creeping into her eyes as the moon reddened further.

“But-”

“No, Derek, it’s dangerous. I won’t let you-”

“It’s not dangerous, mom,” he argued, no longer watching the moon. He stood up and started to pace around the clearing. “It’s not.”

“Yes, it is, Derek,” she said, her glowing eyes following him patiently. “You will understand once you grow up, that-”

“I understand it now already! I understand that you have it all wrong! They aren’t all out there to get us! They really aren’t…”

There was pity in her eyes. Kate would have called her… things he didn’t really want to think about.

“Mom, this can’t be all there is,” he said. “There is so much more out there. How can we just-”

“Derek, maybe-” she didn’t continue. She just sighed and looked up at the moon again. It was approaching the total eclipse. “Maybe we could talk later? This really isn’t-”

“And when will it be? When-” _Persuade her_ , Kate had said. _If you want to be with me, if you love me, then you will._

“Derrie,” she whispered, he eyes glowing full. “Look.”

He didn’t want to look.

“Look,” she repeated, her voice strong. Too strong for him to refuse an order.

He looked up.

The moon seemed huge. It seemed so close that if he would have reached over he could have touched it. The magical apparition filled his mind, pushing the thought of Kate and her words away. There was no Kate in this world, not at that moment. It was just him, his pack… all the packs, raising their heads in one long howl. The song of their race reverberated through their throats and he let it carry him into peace.

His mom was sitting next to him. Her warmth seeped into his body, calming him down even further.

It was a moment.

An eternity.

And then he opened his eyes again. As he watched the moons split apart tail by tail, he realized, that he couldn’t really imagine leaving them… he didn’t _really_ want to leave. Not yet.

Derek sighed, tearing his eyes away from the moon. He pushed his head into his mother’s fur and breathed in the fresh forest air. It wasn’t long before the rest of the pack joined them, piling up around them, exhausted, but calm.

And as he lay there, the moon letting go off him, Kate grew stronger at the back of his mind again, but this time… perhaps the first time in a very long while, he didn't listen to her. Instead, he listened to the gentle breathing around him, the steady thumping of all of their hearts…and he got more sure.

He was sure that this was something he couldn’t leave behind. Something he didn’t want to leave behind. Not even for the whole universe.

His mom shifted, cuddling closer. “Hey pup,” she whispered only for him to hear. “If it’s something you really want, then-... I know I can come on a little too strong when it comes to the Outside, but… you should know that I only want to keep you s-”

“I know, mom,” he sighed. “I know.”

“If it really means so much to you, then-”

He pushed his head under hers, relishing in the weight. It made him feel safe. It made him feel grounded. It made his head cleared. “I don’t want to go anywhere yet, but… maybe someday. Maybe someday we can talk about it? Like actually talk?”

“Yea,” she sighed. “Yea, of course.”

 

~o~

 

_Burning._

_If you were given one more chance, how far would you go to save them?_

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

“Did you hear? Peter Hale’s mate, the faulty Shifter, apparently she is with a child.”

“What? And she’s keeping it?”

“I heard so.”

“What? Is she crazy? Having a child without being able to shift is not really…”

“Yeah, I know, it’s crazy...”

“Totally.”

Derek glared at the pair of women chatting right next to him. They didn’t notice him at all. And even if they did, they probably wouldn’t have known who he was. And even if they did know… he doubted they would have stopped.

He took the bag of traded fruit from the stand owner and walked away. A glare was fixed on his face as he walked through the sea of Shifters - the trading station was always full of them.

He found Olivia at a stand filled with small trinkets - beads, charms and all kinds of things Derek wasn’t really interested in. She was holding a small opal bead and as she rolled it in her fingers, the sun reflected from it to a multicolor of reflections.

She noticed him approaching. “Derek, all done?”

Her smile was kind and gentle. Derek felt even more angry about the gossip he overheard at the fruit stand. He wished it had ended there. But it followed Olivia wherever she went.

“Oh, that’s her, isn’t it?” Derek could hear from a nearby metallurgy stand. And so did Olivia because her fingers stopped twirling the bead. She was listening in as well now.

“Think she will survive it?”

“I doubt it,” came the hushed answer.

“Such a foolish girl.”

“Well, she is faulty, what did you expect?”

Olivia pursed her lips at that and put the bead back into the bowl in front of her. She smoothed the fur over her belly almost protectively. “Let’s head back then?”

“Yeah, just.” He walked over to the stand and reached over to grab the bead from the bowl. “Didn’t you want this?”

She looked over. “Oh, I don’t think…”

“Maybe we can trade three of them,” Derek kept on, rummaging through the bowl. “For all of you.”

“Oh, I’m not sure-”

He picked up three that seemed the most pretty and most similar to each other and showed them to her. “One for you, one for Peter and one for the tiny one? You can all wear them once the baby is born.”

The smile on her face was almost a grimace, her eyes clouded with unshed tears. “Alright,” she nodded weakly.

Derek turned over to trade the beads and then followed after her.

“Here,” he said, pushing the tiny pouch into her hand. “And don’t listen to those old hags. They don’t know shit.”

She snorted, looking down at the pouch. She stroked it with her fingers for a while and then smiled. “You sure are a sweetheart, Derek.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” he scoffed. “You’ll ruin my reputation.”

“Don’t tell what?” she said, winking over at him. He smiled back at her.

 

~o~

 

_Burning._

_If you were given one more chance, how far would you go to save them?_

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

The moons shone bright, bathing the waterfall and its surroundings in a gentle silver sheen. The leaves drank in the light and so turned the forest into a sea of small light sources, enlightening the clearing around the waterfall.

It was a perfect night for a mating ceremony, they said - the nature calm, the guests relaxed, the atmosphere serene and magical.

Peter was standing at the edge of the lake, his feet in the water, his hands outstretched in a ritual gesture. Olivia was standing right next to him, mirroring him. They were thanking the moon for bringing them together. The moonlight filtered between their fingers, gently kissed their foreheads and then allowed them to bring their foreheads together in a silent oath.

It was a short ceremony, blessed by the mothers, blessed by the moons, blessed by the packs and Derek found himself in awe as Peter and Olivia stepped out of the lake hand in hand. Their bond grew stronger under the moonlight and became... eternal.

“For as long as the moon shines upon our souls,” his mom chanted, rising her fingers to the dark skies. “For as long as the mothers reign over our flesh.”

“For as long as you are willing to have me,” Peter joined in with his own oath. His words were barely understandable within his throaty howl.

“For as long as I am enough,” Olivia said in return.

The rest of the packs present began to add their own chants - some of them plain, some of them bizarre, until the clearing was full of overlapping voices, chanting the same, but yet different things.

“For as long as the sun shines,” her said.

Cora snorted next to him. “You are supposed to come up with something cool and original, you know,” she whispered.

“What’s yours then?” he asked grumpily.

“For as long as the water flows,” she said proudly.

Derek scoffed. “Pretty much the same as I said.”

“No, it’s totally more original than yours.”

“Yeah, no.”

“Hush, you two,” Laura said from behind them.

Cora turned around. “What did you say?”

“For as long as we live and beyond that,” she answered silently.

“Oh, that’s good,” Cora said. “That’s good, ain’t it, Derr?”

Derek chose not to answer. Instead he listened in to the echoes of their joined howling slowly dying out in the distance.

“Alex, what did you say?” Cora demanded next.

Laura’s mate shuffled in closer. “For as long as there is breath within us.”

“Oh, that one’s good,” she said, then made a sad face. “Wish I had come up with that.”

Alex just shrugged. “I heard it at a different mating ceremony.”

“See? You should have listened not talked over everybody,” Laura teased. “Then you could have had some cool chants for next time.”

Cora looked even more sad for a second, but then her face brightened. “I will just go and ask everybody.” And with that she left them, weaving her way deeper into the crowd.

“We were gonna grab something to eat, wanna come?” Laura asked, but Derek didn't feel particularly hungry, so he just let them go without him. He didn’t feel very sociable that night - he barely ever did if truth be told, but somehow, it got to him more with all the Shifters around.

That’s why just a few moments later, Peter found him far behind the edge of the clearing, watching the gathering from between the trees.

“I would say I am surprised to find you here, dear nephew, but I really am not,” he said instead of a greeting.

“I could say the same, you know,” Derek answered grumpily. “Why else would _you_ be here.”

“Why to bring you back to join us all, of course,” Peter grinned wickedly.

Derek snorted. “Right.”

“That and also keeping an eye on the Rubbard pack,” Peter said, his eyes turning to look at a group of Shifters laughing silently at the edge of the clearing. They probably would have noticed them right away weren’t if for the ruckuss of the packs around.

Derek followed his line of sight silently.

“Oliva really wanted them around,” Peter muttered with hate seeping into his voice. “But I find their stay has been extended for long enough.”

Derek didn’t  ask why. He knew well enough why. They were silent for a bit, listening in to what the two Shifters were talking about and well… a lot of it was something Derek didn’t really want to listen in.

It didn’t take long for Peter’s eyes to gain that dangerous glint they always got when he was about to do something… Olivia would have not liked. She was way too gentle for the likes of  Peter. Sometimes Derek wondered why the moon brought them together, but… maybe that’s just what they needed - Olivia to gain a bit more confidence and Peter to calm down a bit.

Peter’s head inclined at a particularly nasty insult that spilled from between their teeth. Derek didn’t try to stop him when he started to sneak towards the two. He actually followed along.

“Gentlemen,” Peter raised his voice to a more hearable level.

The two Shifters turned around, unfazed. First mistake. Or maybe the second one, since the first would be calling Olivia all those unkind names before.

Before any of them could do anything, Peter grabbed the one of the left by his neck and pulled him into the darkness between the trees.

His brother looked at Derek, confusion and shock written all over his face. “You insulted Olivia,” Derek said shrugging. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Wha…?”

“You better go before Peter comes back for you,” he said.

The Shifter glanced into the darkness again. Even when they could see through it well enough, the dense layout of trees didn’t allow them to see much. And the fact that they couldn’t hear anything, not even a breath being let out was… well, it must have been very… uncomfortable for the other Shifter.

He turned around and fled the scene without saying a word.

A few moments later, there was a rustle of leaves and Peter was standing next to him again.

“Well, I suppose I ought to join my mate now that that’s taken care of.”

Derek nodded silently.

“Speaking of which, Olivia was wondering where you went,” Peter said out of nowhere.

“Ah, good alibi,” Derek smiled and joined Peter on his way into the crowd.

 

~o~

 

_Burning._

_If you were given one more chance, how far would you go to save them?_

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

_Further than this._

 

~o~

 

“Derek!”

A hand shook his shoulder and he snapped out of his trance. A stream of light assaulted his eyes… wait, no, his eyes were were light. That was fine though, he knew that feeling albeit it wasn’t _his_ kind of light or _his_ actual eyes, he knew how to calm them down.

After a few restless heartbeats, the Sheriff came into view, standing above him, clenching his shoulder.

“That’s enough, son,” he said sternly. Calmly. Derek wasn’t sure. Everything was so confusing. Wait. No. It wasn’t. He was here to…

Derek whipped his head around to look at Stiles and he was confronted with amber-colored eyes full of life. And sadness. Eyes coated in tears and Derek was even more confused than before - did he do something wrong? Did he cause Stiles pain? He looked down at his body - his skin looked soft and tender, but the blisters were gone and the weeping mess of a raw cracked skin was gone.

So then…

“Derek,” Stiles whispered.

He looked back up at the eyes full of… oh no. _Oh no_. He knew. We saw.

He didn’t even notice that the Sheriff let go of him and went around the pod to crouch next to Stiles. Their eye contact was broken when the Sheriff started to talk to his son and Derek… oh stars, he needed to leave. He needed to go. Stiles saw it. The Nanos must have... Stiles saw. He knew.

“I have to…,” he croaked uncertain. He looked down at their connected hands and hesitated.

“I have to,” he started again, looking around frantically. Where did the medics go?

He shook their joined hands, his breath ragged. “Can I? I-”

Somewhere in the back of his brain, he knew it was unnecessary to panic like this. But he couldn’t calm down and the cabin felt a lot smaller than it did before… constricting and he needed to run, run as far away as these spasming fickle legs would carry him.

“You can let go, son,” is all he registered and just like that, he snatched his hand away, stood up and… before he could even take a step, his legs gave in and he fell into total darkness.


End file.
